What an unpleasant situation -you must be totally fed up. It sounds as though planting a border of small thorny bushes like a miniature berberis might be a waste of money then, and being realistic if you turned the whole lawn to a bed of some discouraging kind they would probably damage that too. Had you thought of giving in and putting in some paving stones where they cross? It does seem a weak sort of solution but if you are looking to sell when times improve...

Catching the culprits if they behave as they do could even make the problem worse as they can be very contrary.

I hope somebody else will have a better idea.

if you do catch em beat em up and they will never come back, or set a trap e.g. electrical fences.
(lol only joking just find out where they live (a bit creepy I know) and talk to their parents or who ever looks after them)

Do you have a back garden?
maybe just slabbing the front and not try to garden it.
Defeatest I know but confronting them could cause problems you don't need.

Put up a fence or a hedge. Fences are really not that expensive to put up by yourself. You just need a shovel, quick set concrete, nails and wood. A 4ft fence slat is about 70p each from a builders yard, a 6ft one £1 each. For a front garden 4ft is more than fine.

Might be throwing good money after bad considering what's happened already though? I agree with Pam, parents who have children who kick down fences and steal shrubs are unlikely to respond with anything but aggression. Its a sad old state of affairs. Finding out where they live might be difficult as when you ask questions to find out, people may sense trouble and lie to defend their neighbours.
In fact when I did this the parents denied that the child was theirs - but happily for me he turned up in the middle of the conversation - but the father did threaten to become quite aggressive. (In fact he said that his 10 year old was too young to know the difference between right and wrong...)

oh wow... the kid is 10 of course he would know right and wrong ,if it was me there i would say that a 10 year old kid would understand and that the real culprits are who teach the kid bad things and that is you!(then walk away ,that should leave him speechless.)

It is human nature to take short cuts, even if they know not to. A permanent fence, concreted in, is the only way to stop them. A small or cheap 99p plastic type of fence is useless.

I think slabs are the wisest solution. Cost less and
involve less work than fencing.
I have to avoid getting angry as a Dr told me once that I am the type of person whose stomach wall secretes acid
when I get angry, and this is the cause of stomach ulcers.
You may be the same, so confronting the parents is not
a good idea.
Paving slabs would be best.
Concentrate on keeping yourself happy and contented.

use yucka plants they wont want to walk through them .

I'd go for a more robust permanent fence and then the individuals are less likely to step over it. a minimum of 3ft tall. can you post a picture so we can see what the actual site is like?

Paving stones sounds the easiest solution and they look good.

I agree with Diane really, especially as a single mum.....sadly its an agressive world these days

Noseypotter's solution sounds good, but like as not, their parents would sue! :/

yes good point tb lol id let them . you could get some of them joke dog poos and they wont want to tread on them . failing that a bear trap always works lol .

good idea potter! if you cant beat them, beat them.

Life's too short, Mairi. You're wasting time, energy and money on a patch of grass! Concentrate your efforts on your back garden and hard landscape the front. Or build a wall (assuming that you are allowed permanent boundary structures - some 'modern' housing developments have limits). look around local shops windows for cards left by odd-jobbers looking for work.
If you know who the children are then you might try reporting them to your local bobby - what they're doing is anti-social behaviour and needs dealing with - but not directly by you!