Yes, technically: crime is about the action, not the victims.

Do you think the response was actually because of the two missing piglets, and not a politically motivated move in support for the farming practices?

value of those 2 piglets is pretty much 0 dollars - especially given the piles of dead and dying piglets and pigs lying around on that farm. Many of the crimes with significant value of property stolen/damaged/etc. doesn't get any real attention from local, state police nor FBI just because of sheer volume of the crimes and limited LE resources. The LE resource were prioritized to this case because of political reasons as there is no other plausible reason here.

Speaking about political motivation - there is federal AETA law (Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Enterprise_Terrorism_Ac...) which "prohibits any person from engaging in certain conduct "for the purpose of damaging or interfering with the operations of an animal enterprise."" What can be more political reason than "terrorism" ?!

> value of those 2 piglets is pretty much 0 dollars

It’s like a hundred or $200 [1]. The same amount as a package of mine that was recently signed for and pilfered. The NYPD assigner a detective and co-ordinated with our City Council. (Note: they initially ignored the case. I had to call my City Councilman’s office to prod them.)

I’m not saying it’s not politically motivated. But one needs more proof than an activist group going under cover and stealing piglets getting pursued by the FBI. More probable: the identity of the perpetrators pissed off the farms, moving them from “meh, shit got stolen” to “write letters to everyone” mode. Law enforcement reacts when you document and follow up with them and their politicians, irrespective of who you are.

[1] http://littlepigfarm.com/how-much-is-a-pig/

> It’s like a hundred or $200 [1].

The article you link to says:

> I have seen decent pigs go anywhere from $50 to $100 on Craigslist.

I am not sure if a half dead piglet counts as a "decent" pig.