Several Whanganui East residents without vehicles as they wait for windscreen repairs after vandalism

Larn Sweeney stands beside a car that was targeted and remains in place on Ikitara St in Whanganui East. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui East residents awoke to discover their vehicle windscreens smashed by vandals.

Glass repair businesses have been inundated with repair requests with many residents left unable to drive while they await the delivery of replacements.

Most of the offending occurred on Ikitara Rd, off Anzac Pde and Wakefield St, overnight Monday.

Larn Sweeney lives on Raine St and said his sister-in-law Bronwyn Hughes was a victim.

"She was parked directly out in front of my house on the other side of the road, right by St Anne's School, that parking bay," Sweeney said.

"They smashed her front windscreen, just the front windscreen. We didn't hear anything, the dog barked a little bit, but nothing out of the ordinary."

The vandalism was discovered by residents on the same day that two vehicles were found destroyed by fire on Roberts Ave and the Number 3 Line.

Hughes has a red Volkswagen Beetle and so many vehicles require work that she won't have it back from Central Glass until today.

George Candish from Central Glass on St Hill St said that six people required their services for windscreen repairs stemming from the offending.

Another local repairer said they had received four calls and were awaiting the delivery of replacements.

Sweeney took to Facebook to ask if others had been affected.

"Heaps of people are commenting online that they got done, but other than that people have said that it sucks and that they're taking their cars in to get fixed," he said.

"They all got up on Monday morning to go to work, but they couldn't."

The post drew more than 25 comments from people saying they had heard of incidents, sharing their own stories and tagging friends in the area.

The smashing and burning also follows an incident in which several buildings throughout Whanganui and Patea were targeted with graffiti last week.

A spokesperson said police attended the scene on Ikitara Rd at 12.10am and inquiries are ongoing.