Electric scooters are running into trouble in the Derby City.

Lime and Bird, two of the most popular e-scooter companies, told the Courier Journal that they have recently taken fleets of scooters off the streets due to vandalism.

Lime, a San Francisco-based company that placed its scooters in Louisville in November of last year, has removed fewer than a dozen scooters from Louisville over the past three weeks due to cut brake lines, spokesman Russell Murphy told the Courier Journal.

Though Lime's current model has internal brake lines, the scooters that were vandalized had small access points where brake lines are exposed, said Murphy, who added that the company has reached out to Louisville Metro Police to track down the culprits.

"Vandalizing property is a crime and only harms those who rely on these vehicles every day as an affordable, convenient way to get around," Murphy said. "Lime takes vandalism seriously and will pursue appropriate legal action against those that damage or vandalize our property."

Background:Lime scooters are here! Bird gets competition in Louisville

LMPD did not respond to multiple emails and phone calls from the Courier Journal.

Meanwhile, Bird, which has been in Louisville since August 2018, has also had scooters vandalized in the Derby City.

Bird spokeswoman Natalie Sawyer told the Courier Journal that the company took "a handful of scooters" off the road "immediately" to repair them as soon as they were reported to be damaged.

"At Bird, we have zero tolerance for vandalism and aggressively address it when it occurs in communities where we are meeting peoples’ needs for sustainable transportation options," Sawyer said. "We encourage everyone in these communities — whether they ride Bird or not — to report vandalism done to or with our vehicles as we are committed to acting swiftly and effectively."

Lime and Bird both have features on their apps that allow users to report issues. Additionally, users can contact support@li.me and hello@bird.co for Lime and Bird, respectively, if they notice vandalized scooters.

Read more:Bird scooters are staying in Louisville, and more could be on the way

Contact Ben Tobin at bjtobin@gannett.com and 502-582-4181 or follow on Twitter @TobinBen. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: subscribe.courier-journal.com.