A large family visiting Wagga have been left stranded after vandals attacked their family car at the weekend.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Six members of the Buchanan family travelled to the city from Deniliquin to celebrate a young relative's birthday, and decided to take the family limousine rather than two separate cars.
At 5am on Sunday morning, the family were woken by a group attempting to kick in the windows of the vehicle at the Tolland property they were staying at.
The family chased the group away, but not before they were able to slash all four tyres, smash the front windscreen and leave boot marks along the side of the car.
The group was unknown to the family, who say police were not confident they would be able to find the culprits.
Kelsie Buchanan said they had purchased the old limousine because they saw it as a more affordable and more practical way to drive the large family around, with older members of the family likely to struggle with the height of many six seater vehicles.
She said the family felt lucky the damage done to the vehicle was fixable, as many parts were difficult to replace on the old vehicle.
"If it was left another night ... they've been trying to kick in the side windows as well," she said.
"We can't have it smashed up."
READ MORE:
The family was originally due to leave on Sunday but instead spent much of the day trying to figure out how to get the vehicle home.
Keith Buchanan said locals had come to their aid, with a neighbour helping push the car off the road and people on social media attempting to help replace the tyres so the car can be more easily moved.
Speaking on Sunday, Mr Buchanan said they were trying to get the car towed back to Deniliquin instead of leaving it in Tolland another night.
"It's just not safe to be here," he said.
Mr Buchanan said the family would now have to borrow a car to get back home, but they still felt "lucky" the outcome was not worse for the car or the family.
"Nobody got hurt, that's the single biggest thing," he said.
Riverina Police were contacted for comment.