vandalism is the new blind date

south of the south bay:

SCOTTS VALLEY

Vandals cause $500K in damage

A vandalism of a Green Hills Road construction site during the weekend caused at least $500,000 in damage to 15 tractors and earth movers, Scotts Valley police reported Tuesday.

The damage was discovered Monday morning. Two or more vandals put a mortar-like substance into the engine blocks or fuel lines of all the large machinery at the project site, where a company is in the early stages of building a 16-home development, according to police.

No one has claimed responsibility and investigators have no suspects, though they did collect evidence at the scene, police Lt. John Hohmann said.

Police have not categorized the crime as ecoterrorism, but the FBI offered assistance in the investigation. Scotts Valley police are also collaborating with UC Santa Cruz police. Hohmann said the university has had "quite a few incidents" of similar vandalism, the most recent of which was a few weeks ago. No one has been arrested in connection with those incidents and UCSC police have no suspects, Hohmann said.