A Range Rover has been vandalised in Broughty Ferry with the vandals warning people that their SUV could be next.
The attack on The Esplanade on Wednesday appears to be directly related to the tragedy in London where a 4×4 crashed into a school resulting in the deaths of two eight-year-olds.
A threatening letter with photographs of the two little girls killed left on the vehicle in the Ferry attack asks “will it be your SUV next?”
The letter also asks: “Is your vanity worth more than the lives of our children?”
It continues: “Stop being a danger to those around you, use a smaller vehicle.”
The couple who own the Range Rover said they were shocked, upset and angry at the vandalism to the car and also to the reference to the London tragedy.
Selena Lau died after a Land Rover crashed through a fence and into a building at The Study Prep school in Wimbledon, south-west London last Thursday morning.
A second eight-year-old Nuria Sajjad has died since.
Targeted couple shocked
Asking not to be named the couple in Broughty Ferry said: “What happened in London was awful but this attack has shocked us.
“It would appear to have been targeted at us just because we have a 4×4 and that what was involved in the incident in London.”
They added: “Initially we wondered if it was personal to us because we have a big car and don’t live here all the time, we visit elderly, ill relatives in Broughty Ferry once a month – but we realise it’s more the car that was targeted than us personally.
“However, it’s still upsetting. Are we not allowed to drive a vehicle like this that we have worked hard for?”
The couple said they discovered the vandalism to their vehicle when they got up on Wednesday morning.
“A neighbour said he saw it at 5.30am so it happened some time before that overnight Tuesday on to Wednesday morning.
“Red sticky stuff was smeared all over the front of the car. Initially we thought it was the string that sprays from a tin but it’s not that but a similar sort of substance.
“It took several hours to clean it off. We have reported it to the police.”
Also contained in the warning letter is a claim that a US study has found that children are eight times more likely to be killed in a collision with an SUV than in a crash in which a “standard” passenger car is involved.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We received a report of damage to a vehicle on the Esplanade, Broughty Ferry on Wednesday, 12 July, 2023.
“Officers attended and there was no criminality established.
“We later received a report of damage to a vehicle on Camperdown Street, Broughty Ferry. Enquiries are at an early stage.”
