The attack occurred between 2am and 3am, affecting seven properties with red and black paint and graffiti that falsely labeled one home as a brothel. This event fits into a pattern of mysterious nighttime attacks over the last year and a half across Britain, where properties have been vandalised and spray-painted with the word 'brothel'. More than a dozen attacks have taken place in London over the past 18 months, with additional incidents reported in Liverpool, Manchester, Bradford, Reading, Huddersfield, and Clacton-on-Sea.
Experts have suggested the attacks are being carried out by gangsters attempting to intimidate rivals running brothels or people in debt to loan sharks. Residents contacted Camden Council following the attack but were told the authority would not be able to help with the cleanup. In response, workers from Treehab Arboricultural, a contractor headquartered on the street, have been painting over the damage for their neighbours free of charge.
Last month, audible CCTV from an attack in Acton, West London, provided the clearest clue yet of who is responsible for the vandalism, showing a man using a hammer to smash windows as two associates defaced it with pots of paint.