A Porthleven woman was horrified to find a decapitated baby seagull with its wings cleanly removed and left next to the body on her driveway.

Shelley Louise found the dead bird outside her driveway on St Peters Way today (Thursday July 12) in view of passing schoolchildren with the wings placed "like angel wings."

At first she suspected an animal was the culprit but there was no sign of blood or feathers, which led her to believe that the killing was carried out "carefully" by a person.

Ruth Chadd wrote on the Porthleven Facebook page: "My kids were so upset on seeing it on leaving for school this morning, absolutely horrific- thanks for moving it."

The casualty was the second found on the same street in a week, leading some to believe that there is a serial bird killer on the loose.

A dead cygnet was also found floating in Porthleven Harbour yesterday, and as of today (Thursday July 12) a total of three of the town's cygnets have either died or gone missing.

Killing seagulls is illegal under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it illegal to intentionally injure or kill any gull or damage or destroy an active nest or its contents.

Megan Louise wrote on the Porthleven Facebook page: "It’s barbaric and scary to think such a sick individual lives within our community."

Amy-jade Winter-baker wrote: "What a cruel person! Clearly this person is sick in the head! Poor birdy!"

Amie Steel wrote: "That's the mark of a practiced killer. It needs reporting."

Joanne Britton wrote: "The person who did this should be sectioned because they are mental."

Shelley has reported the incident to both the RSPCA and the police in the hopes that the bird murderer can be tracked down.