RpR Yup, must be the Gnomes!
I understand that deer will sometimes take a bite and then drop them because they don't like the taste. If they happen to bite on one that's newly planted it would of course pull it out. The only way you will know for sure is to set up a trail camera. I think squirrels will some times do that too, more for play then to eat them. They can get almost anywhere. It would be interesting to know for sure. Good luck solving this one.