Toronto resident Joanne Mills woke up Good Friday morning to find four tires slashed on the family car and made the decision to remove the Liberal sign from the family’s front lawn.

It made her angry to take down her support for Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett in St. Paul’s but she told the Star Friday she’s scared.

“I had to. I can’t risk being afraid for my family,” Mills said. “In Canada you shouldn’t have to worry about lawn signs for a political party and it makes me furious.

“I attribute this to Stephen Harper’s attack ads that make people think this kind of behaviour is acceptable.”

Police from 53 Division are investigating 16 cases of cars with slashed tires and scratched paint in the area and have asked the public for help in the investigation. They said cars had their tires slashed and paint defaced between 10 and 11 p.m. Thursday night.

Mills, who has two children still at home, found her tires slashed when she went out around 9 a.m. Friday to drive her husband to the subway station. She called police, as well as Liberal headquarters in St. Paul’s, a swath of the city around Eglinton Ave. that runs from Bathurst St. to Mount Pleasant Rd.

Bennett campaign manager Lynne Steele said that one resident with slashed tires reported a neighbour yelled at her: “Vote Conservative. It wouldn’t have happened.”

Steele added there were at least two cases of cars with all four tires slashed. Some residents reported having an “L” scratched into the paint.

St. Paul's Conservative candidate Maureen Harquail, a Toronto lawyer, said in an email: “Any type of behaviour that damages property has no place in my campaign, or in my politics.”

She added: “Our campaign does not condone such behaviour and was not involved in this incident."

The weekend damage was the second run of vandalism against Liberal-marked homes in a federal election, after 2008 sprees in both St. Paul’s and Parkdale-High Park.

Steele hopes police will be able to stop the vandalism, which in 2008 continued over a weekend.

“This really is awful,” said Bennett, who was out Friday trying to calm nervous supporters. “The really spooky thing is that one guy who didn’t have a sign up had his tires slashed. But he had one on his lawn in 2008 so it looks like they are keeping track of people.

“It’s scary.”

Bennett said she understands that some people prefer the precaution of removing the signs. But one woman apparently said she was worried, but wouldn’t be intimidated by vandals. She left her sign up.

In 2008, vandals also cut brake lines, causing one man with an old model car to almost drive into a brick wall.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Police are seeking witnesses and information about a person described as male, wearing a dark leather jacket, blue pants and a white baseball cap.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 53 Division at 416-808-5300 or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS.

Read more about: