'I was really stunned': Westboro residents awake to vandalism spree

Residents living on astreet in Ottawa's Westboro neighbourhood say they're frustrated and stunned after wakingupSunday morning to a rash of vandalism.

Almost 20 cars along Tweedsmuir Avenue, near Byron Avenue and Clare Street, showed signs of damage, including smashed windshields, broken side mirrors, dents and scratches.

Martin Gravel and Kathleen Michaudtold CBC News they were shocked to discover the extent of the vandalism.

It's difficult to understand.I don't get it.- Martin Gravel

"I was really stunned, I wasn't expecting that to happen in Westboro," said Gravel, who only moved to the neighbourhood a month ago. "Basically they did the whole street up to Westboro Station."

19 vehicles vandalized along Tweedsmuir Avenue

5 years ago

Duration 1:05

Martine Courage and Martin Gravel awoke to damaged vehicles on Sunday morning.

While his SUV hadtwo completely destroyed windows, nothing was taken from the vehicle including the spare change sitting inside.

"It's difficult to understand.I don't get it," he said. "Just to do damage for damage's [sake.]"

The pair does have a motion-activated doorbell camera, but it isn't able to sense movement from as far away as the street, Gravel said leaving them with no video footage of the incident.

Police reports filed

Several residents, including Mike Jennings, said they'd filed complaints with Ottawa police.

The windshield of Jennings' blue Hyundai was covered in a spiderweb ofcracks Sunday morning, with clear footprints showing where someone had stood on the hood of the vehicle.

"This isn't really the neighbourhood you expect mass vandalisms to happen in," Jennings said. "I'm fairly convinced it's not somebody who lives around here."

A police news release said 19 vehicles had been reported damaged, and theinvestigation is ongoing.

'Certainly not great'

Another resident, Martine Courage, said she heard suspicious noises coming from outside her home around 3 a.m., but couldn't see anything when she looked out the window.

She said her daughter first noticed the vandalism the next morning,along with a sizeable rock that appeared to have been used to inflict the damage.

Courage said she'd lived in the area for 18 years, and while similar, more minor incidents have happened before, the needless destruction was still annoying.

"I'm not shocked, but it's certainly not great to have your vehicle damaged like that for no particular reason," she said.

"We've talked about getting a security camera in the past, [since] it would be nice to have some kind of evidence that we could use to help to stop this."