An increase in thefts and damage of vehicles is putting people out of pocket and frustrating locals.
Leon Ward started his small business Award Movers earlier this year and was left distraught when he went out to his truck on Sunday morning to find it had been damaged overnight.
“I came out on Sunday morning and there was glass shattered, my mirror was smashed and a couple of dents on the truck.”
The truck, which was parked on the side of the road on William St had been a victim of vandals.
Leon says he noticed a broken road cone across the street and found bits of road cone in the debris around his truck so assumes someone took to the truck with the cone.
“I felt a little bit pissed off and frustrated when I saw it. It’s money and time that I have to spend to fix it.”
He says the damage wouldn’t warrant an insurance claim, it’s “just a pain”.
Police detective senior sergeant Craig Johnston says police have noticed an increase in theft of and from vehicles in the region, but not so much general vehicle vandalism.
He says police are typically seeing older vehicles that are easier to break into being stolen.
“They don’t have immobilisers and alarms, that kind of thing.”
Between 10 February and 28 June, 14 Mazda Demios had been reported stolen in the Nelson area.
While Craig says the increase clearly started with Demios, they are not the only vehicle being targeted.
He says it’s a mixture of cars being parked on the road or in driveways and areas with more activity have been Stoke, Tāhunanui and Richmond.
“We say this a lot, but don’t leave valuables in the car; wallets, cellphones, bank cards.”
Craig recommends parking somewhere that has the best possible lighting or next to a bedroom window so you’re more likely to hear a disturbance.
He says there have been random instances of tyre slashings and car damage across the district but says it’s not something they have noticed increasing.
“Sometimes those things are completely random, we’ve got no idea why someone would want to do that.”
Craig says that if anyone notices someone acting suspiciously around vehicles, they should call 111 immediately so police can deal with it at the time.
Leon took to Facebook on Sunday morning to try and find out who was responsible for the damage to his truck.
“A lot of time, effort and money has gone into getting my small business off the ground. I really didn’t need added expenses,” he posted.
“Any information regarding the person responsible would be greatly appreciated.”
