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VIDEO: Vancouver vandal suspected of keying 78 cars on city's West Side

Man alleged to scratch M, Z and smiley faces into vehicles in Kitsilano, Dunbar and Kerrisdale
keying car
Security camera footage released by the VPD shows someone damaging a parked car on West 12th Avenue and MacDonald Street. Screen capture.

Painters have their canvas, graffiti artists have their walls and West Side vandal is using parked cars as his creative medium.

Nearly 80 people in Kitsilano, Dunbar and Kerrisdale have woken up over the past few months to angrily discover that their vehicles have been keyed. But instead of scratching straight lines into the sides of their vehicles, the vandal has etched the letter M or Z, and sometimes a smiley face. Soft-top roofs have been slashed and several have had their car emblems stolen, Vancouver police say.

On Thursday morning, the Vancouver Police Department released security camera footage of someone damaging a parked car on West 12th Avenue and MacDonald Street.

"The video shows the suspect concealing his identity while purposely scratching the paint and cutting the roof of a convertible," a VPD press release says.

“Our crime analysts have identified what appears to be five separate crime sprees. Property crime detectives are working on the investigation and other than purposely damaging these vehicles, there is no clear motive,” says Constable Jason Doucette, VPD. “We are working with property owners in the affected areas and are encouraging residents to report suspicious activity to 9-1-1 immediately.”

Detectives would like to hear from anyone with dash-cam video who was driving in the area of West 37th Avenue and MacKenzie Street between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. this past Monday.

Anyone with information about these crimes is asked to contact the investigators at 604-717-0613 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.