Vandals continue to target vehicles in Abbotsford with little rhyme or reason, with 36 such incidents reported to police in November and no sign that the problem is abating.
Abbotsford Police Department issued a news release last week that reported vandals had damaged 27 vehicles so far this month – compared to 17 in the same period in October.
Since then, the problem has only grown in scale, with 36 incidents now on file for the month – compared to just 22 in all of October.
“November is looking like it’s going to be one of the worst months” for vandalism, Const. Ian MacDonald said.
The spike does not seem to be attributable to the work of a single individual, he said.
“It’s not confined to a geographic area.”
Prior to this weekend, the type and the scale of damage perpetrated on the vehicles had varied “right across the spectrum.”
But the last eight incidents, which took place between Friday and Sunday, all involved smashed car windows – the first sign of any sort of consistency in the wave of vandalism.
One thing is clear: the damage – which has ranged from food thrown to vehicles to slashed tires to the broken windows – isn’t the byproduct of attempted theft.
“These aren’t failed attempts to steal from the cars,” MacDonald said. “Even when there are valuables in the car, nothing is taken, only the damage has been done.”
Police have also determined that the vandalism also isn’t tied to any personal conflicts.
The numbers also only count those incidents reported to police. MacDonald says police rely on the public’s help and reports of suspicious activity could make the difference between the perpetrators being caught or the vandalism continuing.