She’s headlined at the Paris Opera and the Met. She’s sung for kings and queens and for Nelson Riddle. She’s provoked feuds with teenagers. But now Dame Kiri te Kanawa has revealed a hitherto undiscovered talent: fighting crime.

The mayor of a New Zealand city plays recordings of the Kiwi songbird in order to deter vandalism in the local transit hub. “There has been no defacing or damaging of art works and sculptures in the area since the music was switched on,” Mayor Bob Harvey explains, because the wayward youth find Dame Kiri’s singing “bloody hideous.” [via Yahoo Odd News]