The bodies were discovered on Sunday morning along a forest road outside central Umeå, not far from one of the stages of the World Championship rally Rally Sweden, which begins on Thursday.
Several of the nearby Sami villages have been critical of the permits for some of the stages, which they believe are unsuitable considering that the Sami people have their reindeer on winter grazing in the vicinity, reports SVT Västerbotten.
As recently as Thursday, Rans Sami village appealed the permits for three of the stages.
One of the reindeer owners tells NSD that several in the Sami village have received hate and threats in connection with the World Championship rally and that it has escalated in recent times.
The police, who on Sunday secured tracks at the crime scene with the help of a dog patrol, confirmed on Monday afternoon that it concerns three dead reindeer.
"We have carried out a number of investigative measures during the day. We have, among other things, held further interrogations and documented the crime scene with a drone. We also have a dialogue with the Sami village", says preliminary investigation leader Sofia Karlsson on the police's website.
