More than a dozen residents were furious Tuesday after waking up to discover homes and cars were covered in spray paint, with the vandals going so far as to break into a garage to spray-paint a car inside.
"My truck door was open, so it's in on the inside — the window, the doors," Susie Williams said after someone targeted her truck at random, tagging it with spray-paint all over — including inside the truck cab.
"Kid pranks are one thing, but when you are damaging somebody's property, that's something else," Williams said.
Murrieta police said the vandalism occurred late Sunday or early Monday where someone randomly spray-painted houses and cars up and down Augusta Drive.
"They came inside the garage," Anne Maui said.
Maui thinks someone got in through an unlocked side door and may have used her own spray paint to vandalize her new car, which only has 4,000 miles on it.
"I don't want to crucify a kid. But I'm pretty mad," Maui said.
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Police did not indicate whether the tagger was an adult or a teen.
Although some of the graffiti appears it could be gang related, most neighbors believe kids are responsible because a lot of the graffiti doesn't make any sense.
"It says, 'boo hoo,' and it's not spelled correctly," Tomi McEvoy said. "They've got, 'Hello.' A smiley face. They put some initials."
McEvoy wasn't one of the residents who fell victim to the vandalism, but she still took pictures of all of the graffiti to document it for investigators.
"It bothers me that they have no respect for this. That this is what they consider fun," McEvoy said.
Alice Takeshita, another victim, said the tagger spray-painted the back and side of her home. She can't match the color and may have to repaint her entire house.
When asked how much money the vandalism will cost her, she said, "more than we have right now."
The owner of California Oaks Car Wash located at 40933 California Oaks Road was offering free cleanings for cars targeted in the vandalism.
Anyone with information about the vandalism was encouraged to call Detective Sergeant Phil Gomez at (951) 461-6356. Those preferring to remain anonymous can call (800) 782-7463.
