The bird of prey was booked into the facility in southern Belgium Thursday, after authorities in Dinant, a cliff-backed riverside city in the picturesque Ardennes region, complained it had been attacking people there.

But by Sunday morning it was gone -- after someone cut into its enclosure and ferried it away in an overnight operation making national headlines, authorities and the CREAVES centre said Monday.

"Fences were cut, security systems disabled, and the aviary was broken into. The buzzard was taken. Alone", the centre said lamenting what appeared to be a "deliberate and premeditated act".

Prosecutors in the nearby city of Namur noted in a statement that the buzzard had disappeared after a break-in but did not say whether the matter was being investigated.

A spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

It was not immediately clear whether the bird had been released into the wild, something the rescue centre warned could "jeopardize its chances of survival".

"Coco" -- as the raptor was nicknamed by area locals -- had been zooming past people near a school in Dinant for weeks, "causing fear, anxiety, and tears among some children," the CREAVES said.

Sightings of it coming into close proximity with people -- and at times being fed by them -- were reported in other nearby areas, prompting authorities to order its capture.

The behaviour suggested the feathered creature did not fear humans, having possibly been raised in captivity, the centre added.

But its apprehension upset some, with the rescue centre reporting it had received "aggressive" messages from members of the public in its wake.