It is always sad to report yet more vandal attacks on Blackbird Leys Pre-School -- but the latest have a more miserable twist than most.

This innocent little community has suffered far more than its fair share of thuggery.

In response to the problem, it recently installed CCTV cameras, helped by the generosity of the Oxford Bus Company and the parish council.

The new equipment was intended to be a deterrent.

When it failed to deter, the school would have valuable video evidence.

But today the cameras are looking like a waste of money.

Some of the latest attacks are on tape -- but the police ignored the footage until nudged yesterday by us to pick it up.

And why was the Press -- and hence the public -- never even informed the attacks had taken place?

We know the police have bigger crimes to solve.

We know that a smashed shed -- for all the heartache it may have caused the pre-school's young charges -- is not flesh and blood.

But such attacks fuel a terrible sense of vulnerability, which the law's response, or lack of it, has only served to heighten.