WHEN vandals repeatedly daubed obscene graffiti on the wall of their family business, Sharlene and Bob Bain assumed a tearaway teen was responsible.

After the Dalkeith locksmiths was targeted for the eleventh time in under a year, the fed-up couple forked out hundreds of pounds on CCTV cameras.

And much to their shock, footage of the latest raid shows two-middle-aged men rather than young yobs spraying a giant phallus on the side of Apache Services in the early hours.

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Video shows one of the men with what looks like a paint canister before the graffiti appeared

“They’re two older men, I really didn’t expect that,” said mother-of-three Sharlene, 45. “And two, not one. More than anything I want to know why?”

The business has been hit 11 times since Easter - initially having cables ripped from the wall before the vandals switched to spraying paint.

“We’ve just had it up to here, we’re only a small business so we don’t have a lot of spare cash,” added Sharlene.

The fifth time vandals ripped television cables from the wall with such force, they dislodged a window frame leaving it hanging off.

Sharlene and 47-year-old Bob repaired the damage and secured the cables, so the yobs switched to graffiti instead.

“They’re spraying willies every time. I just don’t understand it,” said Sharlene. “It’s on the stonework and it’s a listed sandstone building so we’d need to get it professionally cleaned.

“It’d be a massive expense so we’re waiting until they get those responsible - then they can pay for it.”

“I’ve been asking myself if we have any enemies"

Video captured on cameras shows the moment the two balding men, both wearing hoodies, stroll up to Apache Services in Tait Street shortly after 2.30am last Thursday.

One of the pair produces what appears to be a canister before pointing it at the wall while his pal stands watch with hands in his pockets.

Sharlene and Bob have now shared the video on their firm’s Facebook page in a bid to help snare the pair.

“We’ve had some funny comments,” said Sharlene. “Things like is this the Dalkeith Banksy?”

The couple took on the family business from Sharlene’s parents 11 years ago and are at a loss as to why anyone would target them.

“I’ve been asking myself if we have any enemies,” said Sharlene. “Maybe someone had a key cut that doesn’t work. I can’t think it’s another business, we’ve got no real rivals.

“I’ve watched it and watched it and all our friends have watched it but nobody recognises them. The police sergeant said it could be a case of mistaken identity.”

The attacks have placed added strain on the family after Bob was diagnosed with lung cancer.

“Three years ago he was given a few weeks to live but he’s getting a new immunotherapy treatment that only three people in Edinburgh have,” said Sharlene.

“Bob is the first to come in and open up and he has panic attacks when he sees that - he doesn’t need it,” she added.

The couple have been inundated with messages of support and offers to help by their kind-hearted community.

“So many people have been amazing,” said Sharlene. “They come in and offer to clean it off.”

“They can’t know Bob and what he’s been through."

Others have taken to social media to pledge their support for the couple and help circulate footage of the perpetrators.

Jånette Diñse posted on Facebook: “That's terrible. Good CCTV quality so police shouldn't have a hard time finding them.

“Hope this will be the last time. Sorry that this happened to you.”

And Tom Burnett added: “Very sad older men carrying on like this.”

Sharlene and Bob, meanwhile, have vowed the vandals will never beat a business that has been in the family for 40 years.

“They can’t know Bob and what he’s been through,” said Sharlene. “The shop is everything for him, he gets to chat to the customers and forget about the cancer.

“He’s in control no matter how ill he is feeling. In the afternoon he might fall asleep because he’s so tired and the customers wake him up.

“He’d rather be here than sat at home being depressed.”

The couple have now shared the video with the Evening News in the hope readers can help identify those responsible - as their behaviour becomes ever more bizarre.

“One of the times they sprayed a willy in white on the door and windows with black railings on,” said Sharlene.

“Then they came back and did the same but in black, so effectively turning it back to its original colour - it just makes no sense at all.”

A Police Scotland spokesman confirmed the latest incident has been reported and officers are investigating.

"Officers were called to a business premises on Tait Street in Dalkeith around 8.40am on Thursday, 12 December following reports of offensive graffiti on the building,” added the spokesman.