The RSPCA is trying to trace a "middle aged" woman who was seen kicking the animal at the bottom of flats in Sprignall, Peterborough, at about 14:30 BST on Tuesday.
"She was screaming 'stupid hedgehog' and kicking the little animal around continuously," RSPCA inspector Justin Stubbs said.
The hedgehog was treated at a vet's but put down the following day.
Mr Stubbs said the animal was "twitching, clearly in great agony".
"There is no excuse for such a senseless attack, and I can't imagine what could have motivated it," he said.
"I have known cases like this with young children who don't know any better, but for a grown woman to attack an animal like this is just baffling."
A hedgehog has died after being kicked around "as if he were a football".