Isle of Wight police are trying to locate three men, one of whom approached a nine year-old girl in Sandown and attempted to steal her dog at the weekend.
The incident occurred outside Sainsbury's on the High Street at around 1.30pm on Saturday (February 4).
A spokesperson for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said:
"We received a report of an incident that occurred between 1.20pm and 1.40pm on Saturday outside Sainsbury’s on Sandown High Street.
"A nine year-old girl was with a dog when a man she did not know grabbed hold of the lead, and tried to pull the her hand from it.
"The girl’s mother intervened and the man left the area with two other men."
In a linked incident, police were made aware of concerns regarding the behaviour of a group of men at Sandown Pier that same afternoon.
Anyone with information can report it by calling 101, or online at this link.