Thieves left an Aberdeenshire business owner seething after an “amateur” attempt to steal a high-performance car in the late hours of Saturday went spectacularly wrong.
A Mitsubishi Evo was broken into at Jim Reid Vehicle Sales in Kintore, while it was parked overnight in the firm’s yard during a failed robbery attempt.
The car, worth about £20,000, had two windows smashed, as well as having its bumper, bonnet and wing mirror ruined.
The director, Jim Reid, 46, said the repairs would cost him more than £1,000.
He said: “It was one of the most expensive cars in the yard that evening.
“The damage caused will easily go into the thousands of pounds; the whole front end of the car will need to be replaced.
“The attempt that has been made to steal the car looks completely amateur – I don’t understand what they have tried to do.
“It seems they have tried to open the bonnet with maybe a crowbar or something similar, but have given up, then smashed the two windows and still failed to open the bonnet because they had already bust it.”
While Jim Reid Vehicle Sales does not currently have CCTV, the incident was caught on camera by neighbours who confirmed the vandalism took place on Saturday at 11.48pm.
Members of the public have also come forward with claims that two young boys were seen around the time of the incident wearing balaclavas.
The police have been notified and fingerprints were taken from the car.
Since the incident, Mr Reid has said his company will be installing CCTV cameras across their premises as well as storing cars inside as a preventative measure.
He added: “We’ve been at these premises for seven years and have been in business for 13, but incidents such as this are definitely becoming more frequent.
“I think they (car thieves) believe it’s slightly easier pickings out in the shire than in the city, but we are in the process of having CCTV installed this week.
“Now it’s going to be essential – there is almost £1million worth of stock outside, all my money is outside in a compound, and it could now be stolen at any time – that’s the scariest thing.
“I’ve got to protect it as best I can. These are customers’ high-performance cars. I have to do everything in my power to keep them safe.”