By Richard Diamond/Staff Reports

In Putanges-le-Lac, vigilantes on Saturday used an angle grider to cut down the pole-mounted "turret" speed camera on the RD909. The device had been in operation for three months. That same day, another pole-mounted camera, on the RD973 in Lolif, was destroyed by fire along with a camera near Marcey-les-Greves. On Thursday, the speed camera on the RD973 in Saint-Aubin-des-Preaux was destroyed by fire mere days after being returned to service from a prior attack. Vigilantes torched a pair of speed cameras on the RD524 in Vire-Normandie and Mesnil-Clinchamps on Monday, February 27. On the same day, the speed camera on the RD303 in Chenedolle was blinded with green spraypaint.

In Ribnitz-Damgarten, Germany, vigilantes on Thursday put hay bales in front of the mobile speed camera on the B105 to thwart its ability to issue automated tickets. Later in the evening, they smeared the camera with an "unknown viscous substance," according to a police statement. On the prior day, the speed camera on the B49 in Kassel was battered with a tire iron. In Dornstadt, an unknown vigilante blinded the speed camera on Ulmer Strasse with a coat of white spraypaint on Tuesday.

Luxembourg operates thirty speed cameras and one red light camera. Last year, the country spent 432,500 euros (US $460,600) to repair the devices after they were burned or spraypainted by opponents of automated ticketing -- an annual bill of roughly 14,000 euros (US $15,000) per camera. This is more than offset by the 12,806,232 euros (US $13,639,277) in revenue generated.