Like many dealerships, an Oregon car lot uses a giant inflatable to draw eyes to its cars. But it looks like the blue gorilla outside of Oregon Auto Center attracted the wrong kind of attention last week—the attention of acid-throwing vandal(s).
The incident damaged more than 60 vehicles, and floor manager Travis Stanfill told KATU News that cars in the lot he helped open under two months ago now have key scratches, dents and marks from an acid-like substance:
KATU News reports that Stanfill realized something was amiss when he saw the inflatable gorilla laying, slashed and deflated, on top of a Nissan 370Z at 8:30 a.m. on Friday morning. As for the dents in cars, Stanfill said he imagines whoever committed the vandalism started hitting or kicking some of the vehicles in the lot.
The crime occurred sometime after closing around 9 p.m. on Thursday night, but making inroads into who committed the vandalization won’t be easy—the lot has no surveillance cameras, according to the Associated Press.
Stanfill told KATU News that he has a few suspicions about who the vandal might have been—an angry ex, perhaps? (That is a joke, but there are plenty of songs about this kind of ordeal)—and that it takes a person who “has issues” to do something of that nature.
Concerning how the business will fare with the now-vandalized lot of vehicles, Stanfill added that the damage will cost thousands of dollars and be tough on his employees. As Stanfill put it, “It’s hard enough for a sales guy to sell a vehicle.”
And people actually ask why I park my car in remote corners of parking lots. But in this case, I guess even the secluded corners wouldn’t help too much.
Contact the author at alanis.king@jalopnik.com.