Gardaí are investigating the vandalism of more than 30 cars in a housing estate in Castleknock, Dublin.
Vandals scratched the word "Isis" on the bonnets of numerous cars on the Castleknock Park road, between 11pm on Monday night and 7am on Tuesday morning.
One woman resident had both of her family’s cars defaced, one of which was a 2017 model. “It’s horrible,” she said. “They came all the way up through the estate, doing this as they went along. It’s ugly, nasty.”
Repair cost
A couple had their two cars vandalised, including a 2016 BMW. One of them said it was likely to cost in excess of €1,000 to repair both.
“This was serious, probably a few fellows who came in late and took their time doing this.
You'd have to question the mindset of these people
“If there was good CCTV in the area . . . they might be caught,” he said.
His wife said she believed 59 cars had been vandalised in the estate in total.
A Garda spokeswoman confirmed that the total figure may be “in excess” of the 30 incidents reported so far.
“You’d have to question the mindset of these people,” another resident of the estate said.
“It’s crazy, you’d be afraid of going around late [at night]. Some cars were destroyed, with big, deep, sharp scratches.”
Another resident said he didn’t discover the scratches on his silver car until late on Tuesday afternoon.
“It would cost a good bit to fix, you’d have to get the bonnet resprayed. I don’t know if insurance will cover it, and if you do go through the insurance it’d raise your premium,” he said.
A Garda spokesman said the force was appealing for anyone who may have witnessed anything suspicious in the area late on Monday night or on Tuesday morning to contact Blanchardstown Garda station.
“We’re hoping . . . some households may have either their own CCTV cameras or even dash-cams in their car,” the spokesman said.
