The British army and the Police Service of Northern Ireland were told they were not welcome in the Border village of Omeath yesterday after local people claimed that up to 15 of them crossed the Border.
In a statement the PSNI confirmed it was involved in joint patrols with the British army in the area on Wednesday evening but said preliminary inquiries indicated that "at no time did any member of any patrol inadvertently cross the Border into Omeath."
One angry man claimed he actually discovered three soldiers in his back garden but was afraid to challenge them because they were obviously armed.
Mr Peter McGuigan lives at Cornamucklagh, just 100 yards from the Louth Border with Down and was in his back garden when he saw shadows moving.
"I was out closing sheds we have and saw these shadows. I shone a bright torch on them and saw a soldier with two others coming behind him," he said.
They appeared to have jumped over a wall into the rear of the property, and he asked them what they were doing and they left.
Mr McGuigan said military activity started around 5 p.m. on Wednesday when a number of helicopters flew over. He believes they dropped the soldiers into the area.
It was three hours later that he saw the soldiers on his property.