Updated

A Macedonian environmental group is calling for the prosecution of a hunters' association behind a midnight massacre of crows inside the country's fourth-largest city, allegedly after residents complained that the birds' droppings were spoiling their cars.

Stole Velkovski, head of the Anima Mundi group, told The Associated Press Friday that it is illegal to shoot wildlife in inhabited areas or at night, adding that the hunters had endangered human lives too.

Hundreds of crows were killed Wednesday in the southern city of Prilep.

A group statement deplored the "savage" shootings of what it defended as "intelligent, sociable, peaceful and non-aggressive ... and not birds of ill-omen."

The hunters' association argued that crows are pests and not officially protected, and said it acted after complaints over the acid droppings.