A £3,500 slide is installed at an Oxford park. Two weeks later, arsonists destroy it.

Can anyone understand the mentality of such idiots?

The slide had been provided at council taxpayers' expense in the Bertie Place recreation ground, following requests from residents.

Now it has been wrecked, money has been wasted and the local community is back to square one.

The local lay pastor says parents with young children are reluctant to go to the park because of problems with older children.

She believes the answer is to put more resources into the area.

We would be more blunt. What we need is more discipline in the home, swift detective work from the police to track down the culprits and stern action from the courts to show that such wilful destruction will not be tolerated.