One who steals an ox and is caught must pay twice the value of the stolen object as reparations. One who stole an ox and then slaughtered it or sold it before being caught must pay five times the value of the ox. It is written in the Torah “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters or sells it, he shall pay five head of cattle for the ox and four sheep for the sheep” (Exodus 21:37). The sages ruled that the thief must sell the entire ox, without anything left aside; what he stole he must sell. If the thief sold the ox without its horns (retaining ownership of the horns even after the sale of the ox) and is then caught, he does not have to pay five times the value of the ox.
One of the Talmudic sages asked: what is the rule for a thief who, before the sale, cuts off the leg or the horns of the ox? Does he have to pay five times the value of the ox? What are the issues under debate? On one hand, what he stole is not what he sold; he stole an ox with horns and sold one without. Therefore, he ought to be exempt from paying five times the value of the ox. On the other hand, he sold the entire ox, and the thief does not retain ownership of any of the ox after its sale. (This question was not resolved in the Talmud. It is important to note that levying an amount of reparations above the value of the stolen objects [what the sages called a fine] is not applicable after the Sanhedrin was abolished; this discussion is of no practical value in our times.)
(Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Bava Kamma 78b)