Put chicken wire or hardware cloth cages around your plants. Without a doubt you had some 4-legged help.

Herbs are not untouchables in the garden. They are not favorites but far from untouchable. And if you can tell me why a deer would chew and spit out not 1 but 2 young walnut trees or why a rabbit would chew down and then not eat a gas plant, then we'd both know why they would do such wacky things when choice herbivore plants like clover are growing large and lush right near these plants.

In other words, it doesn't always make sense. But if you have precious plants, cage them or protect them in some manner.

FataMorgana

Rabbits love the taste of seedling herbs with their usual broad leaf weeds they find in early Spring! I put chicken wire baskets I make in different sizes to fit each young plant I put out until they start growing through the chicken wire. By the time they get big enough to grow through the wire the rabbits leave them alone! Remove them and flatten them out store them until next time you plant young ones!