TORONTO - The owners of at least 25 Toronto homes in two different ridings awoke this weekend to find their cars had been dangerously tampered with or their houses had been vandalized, in an apparent connection to the campaign signs on their property, the Liberals said Sunday.
  
At least 14 homeowners in the midtown Toronto riding of St. Paul's had the brake lines of their vehicles either cut or damaged on Friday night, some had the letter L keyed into the side, and some homes were sprayed with anti-Liberal graffiti, said Liberal Carolyn Bennett, who is seeking re-election in the riding.

On Saturday night, at least 11 more homes were targeted in the west-end riding of Parkdale-High Park and the Liberals said they were shocked and disturbed that it appeared their supporters were being attacked.

"The most upsetting thing is the intimidation of people who are participating in a democratic process get targeted," Bennett said.

"These people could have been killed with their brake lines cut, it's like some sort of bad movie."

Bennett said the vandalism is part of a troubling trend, given that Liberal supporters were also victimized in similar incidents reported in Guelph, Ont., in late August and in the Toronto riding of Willowdale in March, both in the lead up to byelection votes.

Police say they are investigating and won't confirm any link to the election campaign.

Police patrolled Bennett's riding on Saturday night to prevent more vandalism and said they will continue to do so in areas that have been affected.

Homeowner Jennifer Lithgow awoke early Saturday morning to find "B. Rae lies" sprayed on her house and after buckling her six-year-old daughter into her car, she found the brakes weren't working.

She didn't immediately connect the two incidents but after making a call to Bennett's campaign team to report the vandalism to her house, she was told about the other cars that had been damaged, including her neighbour's.

"I can't believe that somebody would do that, it's dangerous, I could have hurt myself, or my daughter who was in the car at the time, I could've hurt somebody else if I hadn't been able to stop," Lithgow said.

"If they slashed my tires or something to make a point that is one thing but to actually sabotage my car and potentially put me and other people in danger because of that is just mind boggling."

She said her family has had Liberal signs on their front lawn during previous elections and never had a problem. They've decided not to take down their sign, even after being targeted.

"I don't want to give in because that's probably one of the things they're after, for me to take my sign down, so I don't want to," Lithgow said, although she admitted to still being disturbed by what happened.

"I think we're pretty safe here in Toronto and in this country but obviously not, there are people who will go to all kinds of extremes for their political viewpoints."

Anita Agrawal, the NDP candidate for St. Paul's, said the reports of vandalism are not only an attack against the Liberals but also an attack on the democratic process.

"These mindless, and potentially dangerous, acts threaten the very fabric of democracy and have no place in civilized society," she said.

"My staff has already met with Dr. Bennett's team to discuss the best ways to combat vandalism. We will work closely with the Toronto Police Service to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice."

Jason Easton, the campaign manager for Gerard Kennedy, who is running for the Liberals in Parkdale-High Park, said he hopes the incidents aren't connected but noted that a homeowner in his riding also had the same bit of "B. Rae lies" graffiti left on a garage.

"It definitely is a disturbing trend that we're seeing," he said.