IMAGINE being lucky enough to own a Learjet Model 60 and finding out your $2.5 million private jet had been vandalised by graffiti artists. Talk about heart breaking.

That's exactly what happened at Van Nuys Airport in the US this week, where criminals broke into a secure area and spray-painted words such as 'R. I. P' and 'Flame' on the fuselage, The Aviation Writer reported.

There are also some unidentified initials on the tail of the aircraft, which Los Angeles police believe are "gang related and gang initiated".

The damage will cost an estimated $110,000 to repair.

An investigation has now been launched by Los Angeles Airport Police and the FBI, while meetings are also being held to ensure repeat incidents are prevented.

But that probably won't soften the blow for the Malibu-based aviation company that reportedly owns the Learjet.

"This is a big deal to me, to have somebody who could get onto the airfield and who could do that kind of damage, that kind extensive graffiti to an aircraft, and not be seen," Los Angeles Airport Police Chief Patrick Gannon said. "I'm not happy about it."

Read more at The Aviation Writer.