Mystery of red paint vandalism across England leaves residents puzzled and fearful

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Spattered across a row of homes, the red paint that appeared on the front of houses in north-east London this week was as unwelcome as it was inexplicable.

Yet the vandalism was not confined to this corner of Walthamstow – the second such attack in a fortnight – it mirrors other incidents in communities across the country that have left local residents seeking answers from police and local councils.

Huddersfield, Bradford, Reading, and a number of London boroughs have seen similar attacks. In each case, red paint has been splattered on the front doors of houses at night, often accompanied with the daubing of numbers and the word “brothel”.

On neighbourhood Facebook groups and other online threads, the incidents over recent months have been the focus of debate online with users coming up with theories that range from gang-related activity through to claims that the incidents are related to the war in Gaza.

Local residents who spoke to the Guardian in Cazenove Road in Walthamstow said they had received an anonymous paint-spattered letter claiming that a house nearby was a brothel, yet they were at pains to insist that there was no evidence this was true.

“It’s really distressing, especially after it only happened the other week as well and we’ve been up overnight looking out the window,” said the elderly couple, whose daughter spent much of Tuesday washing off red paint from their house.

“We’ve no idea why we also ended up having paint all over the front of our house. It just doesn’t add up.”

Investigations by the police have drawn a blank elsewhere over the past 18 months, although the Metropolitan police said it was now attempting to establish if there is a link to other incidents outside the local and London areas.

“These incidents are being investigated by the local safer neighbourhoods team to ensure all investigative leads are explored and support is provided to the victims of these incidents,” the force said. No arrests have been made.

“At this stage there has been no arrest, and enquiries into the circumstances continue, including to establish if there is a link to other incidents outside the local and London areas.”

Stella Creasy, the MP for Walthamstow, said: “Its deeply troubling that this kind of incident has been reported around the country but there’s no central coordination to investigate, so residents in Walthamstow have been told the police won’t call on them for days despite this happening at a number of venues.”

“For the families and residents living nearby it’s terrifying as well as those in the properties.”

In one of the houses on Cazenove Road, a woman who gave her name as Hannah said she was distressed and worried about the cost of having to repaint or remove the red paint that covered both floors of her home.

“I’m also not sure how to explain it to my son. It’s costly but it’s also a worry. What are we supposed to do if it happens again after we clean it all off. I just wish I could [talk] to the people doing it and ask them what they want,” she said.

In Reading, the attacks targeted a number of homes early last year. The side of a building had also been covered with red and black paint, and the word “brothel” had been spray-painted on the wall.

In November, police ruled out a link between two vandalism attacks on apartment blocks in Bradford city centre. In both cases red paint was thrown and the words “brothel” or “borthel” and some numbers were daubed on walls or windows.

One of the earliest reports was in Huddersfield, where a building was daubed with the words “brothel 3” and spattered with paint in 2023. Later that year, police in West Hampsted in London said they believed that repeated paint attacks were not antisemitic hate crimes. On those occasions, the tag “brothel” appeared on the affected house.