(Picture: Hillsboro Police Department)
Police were surprised by the acts (Picture: Hillsboro Police Department)

Residents have been scratching their heads in Portland, Oregon, after finding mysterious vandals have smeared pastries on their cars.

The vandals appear to have done away with the more traditional graffiti and window-smashing in favour of the more unusual approach of daubing vehicles with doughnuts, cakes, and maple bars.

Over the past six weeks, residents of Hillsboro have woken up to bread stuck to a windshield, pink yoghurt wiped across a bonnet and two chocolate doughnuts with sprinkles sat on a pair of windscreen wipers, among other food-related acts.

‘In my 25 years in police services, I have never investigated or seen a criminal mischief involving pastries,’ Lieutenant Mike Rouches of the Hillsboro police told Oregon Live.

Rather than eating the pastries, the vandals prefer to smear them on cars (Picture: West Light)

Perhaps the most bizarre incident was the one that took place on Saturday, when a woman found doughnuts thrown around her garden – and a Twilight book lying in the driveway.

Police first heard of the incidents on 11 July, when a woman reported that she had seen 13 instances of pastry vandalism in the area, and knew at least four victims.

They believe the food was stolen from WincCo Foods, which has branches on either side of town, and say the victims are chosen at random and that the culprit is likely a group of children or adolescents.