Thoughtless vandals ruin Corona family's Christmas

CORONA, Calif. (KABC) -- Money planned for the holidays for one Corona family now has to be spent cleaning up tagging on their house.

Rachel, who asked that we not use her last name, said someone tagged her home and vehicles early Sunday morning.

"We came out and looked on our driveway and our cars, and so it was while we were sleeping," she said.

The vandalism happened just after midnight. Her neighbor Floyd Smith is the one who called police after hearing something strange.

The vandal or vandals managed to scrawl a few letters across the garage and side wall.

As to why the home was targeted? Rachel has no clue. She and her husband and two young boys moved in just six months ago.

She said police don't believe the tagging is gang-related or meant as retaliation.

Rachel believes the incident was likely done as a prank, but one that will cost the family dearly.

Her husband was just laid off last month, and what Christmas plans they had are gone.

"In deductibles only is close to $4,000 just to get...out of pocket from us and then they'll cover everything else, which we are grateful for, but that's a large amount," Rachel explained.

The stay-at-home mom is finding a sliver of humor in all of this and has managed to turn the mean-spirited prank -- if that's what it is -- into a teachable moment for her boys.

Since the act of vandalism, Rachel's husband has repaired the lights surrounding the property and is working on installing security cameras.