A St. Paul school is mourning the death of its beloved goat after it was stolen, prompting an online campaign to buy a more secure pen to protect the remaining animals at the school from future harm.

The Great River School has reached its goal of $15,000 for the pen.

The money will allow the Montessori charter school to safely continue its goat program, which is a core part of the school's curriculum, said Lisa Holt, who organized the fundraiser and leads the school's goat and chicken program.

The goat, named Hazelnut, was stolen from her locked pen at the school in late June. Security footage from a neighboring business captured the 120-pound goat being lifted over a retaining wall several feet high and taken away.

The school community's search for Hazelnut ended after the goat's remains were found last week in a plastic tub in an alley in the 300 block of LaFond Avenue in St. Paul.

According to school officials, Hazelnut was a favorite among students and adults who found her to be a reliable companion and comfort. She could withstand long hikes, loved to travel and was trained to do things on voice command.

Hazelnut's friendliness landed her and her sister, Magnolia, on a cable news show when they were at a rest stop during one of their travels.

Officials at the Great River School, on Energy Park Drive just south of Como Park, have temporarily moved Magnolia and another goat, Midnight, to a farm in northern Minnesota. They said they had planned to use Hazelnut and the other two goats in an economics project teaching children how to milk them and sell the milk or cheese.

Holt wrote on the fundraising page that they welcome any information that may help in the investigation of Hazelnut's removal and death.

"As a community, we are heartbroken, horrified and grieving," Holt said. "When our hearts and space are ready, we need to find another goat as much like Hazelnut as possible, and she was one in a million."