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Dan Tanner, owner of the herd pictured at Burley Park in the New Forest.

One of the biggest and best known stags in Britain has been shot dead by poachers desperate to get their hands on its prized antlers worth £1,000.

The huge 16-year-old red deer, known as The Monarch because of its regal stature, was gunned down on private land in the New Forest.

It is believed the Monarch was shot by poachers wanting to chop off his head and impressive 16-point antlers and mount it as a trophy.

The antlers alone are thought to be worth around £1,000.

Poachers fired at the enormous beast with a shotgun but the impact was not enough to kill it and it evaded its would-be captors.

But, mortally wounded, its lifeless body was found later floating in a lake where it is thought to have drowned.

The Monarch was so well known and revered in the New Forest that gift shops sell souvenirs with pictures of him on it including mugs, clocks and jewellery.

His death comes three years after another huge red stag dubbed the Exmoor Emperor was shot dead by a hunter.

The Monarch was the biggest of a herd of 40 red deer owned by farmer Dan Tanner and kept at Burley Park near Ringwood, Hants.