Up to three dead cows have mysteriously washed up on a Dunedin beach this weekend.

Senior Sergeant Brian Benn told Fairfax local residents said as many as three dead cattle were seen washed up on St Clair Beach on Saturday.

Adam Haslemore lives close to the beach and whipped down with his camera to check it out.

"It had been washed in with the high tide on Saturday morning."

Haslemore had heard another dead cow was spotted earlier in the week washed up nearby on Tomahawk Beach.

He said the carcuses have got the town speculating, with some bringing up the 500 cows that were stolen from an Ashburton farm.

"Generally the current is a northerly drift so it's more likely to have come from the south.

"They should, if the ear tag is intact, be able to identify it."

Haslemore said they don't usually get creatures washing ashore.

"We get the odd dead seal but not usually farm animals."

Police confirmed one body was definitely found on the beach.

The carcass was removed by a Dunedin City Council contractor.