Act of vandalism

Swan killed in Stratford.

Quin Mallot, the city’s manager of forestry and parks for the past 10 years, has seen it all but even he was shaken by an act of human aggression Saturday night that took the life of one of Stratford’s swans.

The adult female swan named Angela was found floating in the Avon River this morning.

“It was an act of vandalism,” said Mallot. “If it’s an animal there are feathers and remnants of eggs and things like that. Animals just aren’t that tidy.”

In addition to the death of the swan, seven eggs from the nest were missing. According to Mallot, they were probably thrown in the river.

“We’re sure it was humans,” he added. “There were some beer bottles by the nest and there were some mailboxes tipped over further up the street. Plus some people on William St. reported hearing a commotion around where the nest is sometime after the bars closed.”