IF the killing of an unborn cygnet in Worcester's Gheluvelt Park hasn't angered you, today, then you have a crisis occupying 100 per cent of your mind or a curious set of values about a civilised society.

What adds to the anger is that, if those who use the park regularly are to be taken as reliable witnesses, the hooligans responsible might just as easily have booted a duck or set fire to a bench in their moronic search for kicks.

And it isn't something they've dreamt up for the summer of 2003, as we all know.

"You name it and they do it," says one resident. "Every year the swans are attacked and it's always at hatching time.

"There isn't much you can do because mainly it's down to the people who use the park."

While we know what he means, we beg to differ. If the community wants to stop the criminal behaviour, it can.

If residents can predict the arrival of bottle-throwing, fire-starting, beer-swilling teenagers in the park, then the city council and police can too.

Co-ordinated blitzes are regularly launched on suspected drug-dealers, house-breakers and violent thugs.

Let's do the same in Gheluvelt.

Let's send a message to these tiny minds - and to the parents who lack the intelligence to haul them in - that their days are numbered.

Let's show a united front, rather than a frightened one.

Give us the evidence about who's responsible and, within the rules of law which govern us, we'll publish it. It'll make our community one we're proud to live in, not ashamed. Let's make it happen.