Vandals target new Cedar Rapids home

A shovel in the wall isn't a sight any new homeowner wants to see, especially if a vandal put it there.

But that's what Frank Woods, 28, Hiawatha, and his wife found after contractors called them Tuesday morning.  The Woods are building a new home in Northeast Cedar Rapids.

“Decent people don't do this,” said Woods.

They bought the property and started building two months ago.

“The neighborhood seemed like quite the draw, its very quiet back here,” said Woods.

Now, there is a shovel, two poles and a tin-snips sticking out of the walls.  That's just the start of the damage.

“You come into this house where you've spent so much time on and it represented happiness and all the times we were here, now it represents a creepy crime scene, its messed up,” said Woods.

He and his family have done much of the work on the house in an effort to lower costs.  Now, they have to put new up drywall and repaint many of the walls because someone either stuck tools in them or gouged random holes and tore apart corners.

“You're paying a deductible and when you try to save $500 by painting yourself, and you pay $500 deductible, it's kinda for nothing,” said Woods.

Among the destruction is graffiti.  Whoever wrote it kept referring to a name, it's a name Woods says they don't recognize.

“It's nothing personal I know, but it feels pretty personal,” said Woods.

Most of the writings are too graphic to repeat.  Police say it's a key piece in their investigation.

They think whoever did this may have stayed overnight.  There are cigarette buts inside, and outside, they left a can of mostly eaten beef stew.

There's another twist here, on Sunday night, Woods says someone broke in and destroyed his newly installed furnace.  He originally thought someone was trying to steal it for money.

But after what happened Monday, Woods thinks its all related.  Police say they're investigating.

Police say they're also investigating two reports of slashed tires on the same block.

Woods says the doors on his home were either locked or screwed shut, but adds the final pieces to secure the doors hadn't been installed.