In the wake of another round of vandalism in Seven Fields, an important question is whether police protection has become too predictable.

It’s clear that vandals know when the window of opportunity exists to do their despicable deeds without the likelihood of getting caught and, unfortunately, they’ve been taking advantage of that knowledge.

Seven Fields’ police protection is provided by Cranberry Township under an intermunicipal agreement.

That’s not to imply that Cranberry police aren’t doing a good job. In fact, Seven Fields officials praise the Cranberry officers’ efforts. But not having in-the-borough police protection at all times keeps opportunities open for trouble that might not occur if 24/7 law enforcement coverage were in effect.

Meanwhile, the situation isn’t being helped by residents who fail to watch what’s going on and who fail to report suspicious activity that they observe.

Thus, the situation has been ripe for what has been occurring, like an incident in which someone scaled a fence at the swimming pool, defecated on a water slide and drew obscene graffiti on the concession stand.

Also, in the northern end of the borough, about 20 homes were egged and mailboxes were smashed. Some residents have had their cars broken into, and other homeowners have reported having had firecrackers thrown at their front doors.

In the swimming pool incident, the person or persons responsible managed to carry out what borough manager Tom Smith called “vulgar” and “absolutely disgusting” deeds despite security cameras installed recently at the pool.

While the cameras provided some evidence, Smith said, they didn’t provide enough detail for police to identify a suspect.

What is behind the desire to damage or destroy — a scenario that has been in place for some time in Seven Fields — is puzzling. But if the perpetrators are borough residents, they’re ignoring the fact that tax money paid by their parents or others close to them is what’s being used to pay for repairs to borough property and equipment and to buy security equipment.

A small borough like Seven Fields shouldn’t need around-the-clock police protection. But increasingly in Seven Fields, there’s been plenty of evidence that it does.

Constantly changing police strategies for patrolling the borough are in order.