A Lake Albert family received an unwanted gift this year when an arrow was shot into their backyard

Dianne Nathan was enjoying the festive period with family at her Lake Albert home when an arrow came out of nowhere and pierced her backyard lawn.

Mrs Nathan was checking her clothes line at around 4.30pm on Christmas Eve when she noticed the large arrow.

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"I had extended family here and everything on the day. And the thought that if it wasn't me going to get the clothes off the line. It would have been my daughter," she said.

"This could have happened to her."

Her small quiet street close to the lake is a tight knit "child-friendly" neighbourhood, she said, with many small children playing in the street and in her backyard as well.

Her neighbours were "horrified" when she informed them of the incident, she said,

The arrow has the words 'feral pest management' written on its shaft and instead of an arrow tip, had a metal bolt.

The weight of the arrow means it must have been shot from afar, and by an adult, she believes.

"The force that had hit the ground, concerned me, the fact that it would have had to have come way over some extremely high trees," Mrs Nathan said.

"It's not somebody that has aimed at a target 50 metres away, it's come from a distance at a force.

"That somebody was so irresponsible to do that, in a suburban area without thought of anybody ... it was quite concerning."

She said the street is lucky that somebody wasn't seriously injured.

"It's a rural city, not a rural countryside. You know, I have no qualms about people wanting to shoot arrows on their own private, rural outside town property at all. None," she said.

"It could have been a lot worse."

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