'I couldn’t stop crying': Residents' heartbreak after street 'obliterated' by vandals painting 'brothel' and throwing oil on homes
The attack has shaken the sense of security on what had previously been a quiet street, a resident told LBC.
Residents have been left devastated after four homes and the garage of a fifth property were targeted with oil, pink paint and spray paint on a housing estate in Rugby, Warwickshire.
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The damage was discovered in the early hours of Wednesday, 19 August, leaving residents facing a major clean-up operation.
Jenna, who has lived on the cul-de-sac for 10 years, told LBC she woke up for work at around 04:45am and initially could not understand what she was seeing.
“I thought I was half asleep and my car had gone mouldy. It was really weird.
“Then I came down, opened the door, and there was just oil everywhere — all over my car, all over the garage, all over my house.”
She said the affected homes had been “completely obliterated” with oil, paint and spray paint.
Jenna said residents have tried jet washing, graffiti remover, soap and washing-up liquid, but much of the damage has not shifted.
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“We don’t want to ruin the property. One of the neighbours has paid for somebody to come in to do a laser treatment, but it’s taken the colour out of the bricks.
“It’s ruining our properties over something we are clearly not involved in.”
She said the attack had shaken the sense of security on what had previously been a quiet street.
“I’ve been here 10 years. Nothing like this has ever happened before. “It’s not nice when you feel so safe somewhere, and we felt safe for a long time. Now it’s, ‘Are they going to come back? Are they going to do more damage?’ We just don’t know.”
Jenna said she had tried to shield her younger children from the sight of the damage.
“My three children were asleep - the boys haven’t seen it. I’ve kind of kept them out. I don’t want them to see this.
“This is our safe home. This is where we live, this is where we bring our children up… it is way more than just criminal damage. It’s heartbreaking.”
Police and community support officers attended on Wednesday, taking statements from those affected.
Jenna added: “I just hope the police catch whoever did this …because this it’s unnecessary and absolutely out of order for people that have done completely nothing wrong.”
Sergeant Ricky Franklin, of Rugby Safer Neighbourhood Team, said: “We would like to reassure residents that enquiries are ongoing following these recent acts of vandalism, which are unacceptable.
“The damage that has been caused will take significant time and effort to fix, however our officers are investigating and will be looking into the circumstances of what happened in each case.”
Anyone who saw anything, has information, or holds CCTV or doorbell footage is asked to report it online, quoting incident 68 of 19 August.