ST. PAUL, Minn. —  Pigeon poop has long sullied downtown St. Paul sidewalks, but the slippery, smelly mess is gaining urgency with the Republican National Convention coming to town next year.

Sticky foam, hawk balloons and nets haven't gotten rid of the birds, so officials have a new plan: stealing pigeon eggs.

After pigeons lay their eggs on rooftop nesting grounds, maintenance workers plan to sneak up through trap doors and grab the next generation before it hatches.

"We'll build them little condos. We'll keep taking the eggs, and they won't have little ones," said Bill Stephenson, the city's animal control supervisor. "Slowly they'll die off."

City officials also considered feeding contraceptives to the pigeons but rejected that idea on fears of also inadvertently sterilizing eagles or hawks.