KEY POINTS:
A self-titled "Phantom Expander" has begun a personal vendetta against large car exhausts in Blenheim by filling them with expanding foam.
Police have received four complaints of "foamings", but the four victims managed to clear the foam before it set, Constable Michelle Stagg said.
A police officer was one of those targeted, she said.
"Police do not like to see people taking matters into their own hands and it can lead to them being arrested themselves."
The Phantom Expander wrote an anonymous letter to the Marlborough Express saying he was targeting boy-racer-style car exhausts.
"I have taken it upon myself to respond to the socially maladjusted Blenheim pinheads that have chosen to have a wide-mouthed, boy-racer exhaust installed on their car."
Dispensary optician Anna Gellatly was one of the Phantom's early victims.
Her car was foamed while she was working in the town centre.
She said she was not a boy racer and had bought the 1992 Honda Civic two months ago because it was cheap.
"That person doesn't even know who I am or how I drive as I don't drive like a boy racer, and it's not one of those cars," she told the Marlborough Express.
"This is nothing but straight-out vandalism."
Miss Gellatly managed to pull out the foam before it set.
In the letter, the Phantom said the "public service" would continue until the "inadequate knobheads get the message".
"It may not happen tomorrow, next week, or next month, but it will happen. Enjoy!"
- NZPA
