A family has been targeted by malicious vandals who draped dead cats on the bonnet of their car and rammed knives into the tyres.

Hayden Tennant, 37, of Silsden, said his wife was badly shocked when she made the discovery as she got into the car early on Tuesday morning to go to work.

He said she saw something draped on the vehicle’s bonnet, which she initially thought was a coat.

However, when she looked again she was stunned to realise the “coat” was a dead female cat and two dead kittens – laid out alongside each other.

Red paint had been daubed around the animals to resemble blood and a kitchen knife was embedded in each of the vehicle’s tyres.

The car had been parked outside the family home in a quiet cul de sac in Silsden.

Mr Tennant said his teenage daughter saw the grisly offering when she looked out the window in response to her mother’s scream.

He said his family were great cat lovers and owned five of the pets.

Mr Tennant said although it was clear this was a targeted incident he could not understand why his family was singled out.

“We’ve had no fallouts with anyone and we’ve got no enemies,” he said.

“We’ve lived here almost seven years and never had any trouble. It’s a quiet, lovely place and the children can play outside. Everyone seems to get on well. “The cost of the damage to the car is irrelevant but for something like this to happen is very worrying and intimidating.”

He said the dead cats had no visible injuries on their bodies, so thought they might have been recently drowned. He added he had never seen those particular cats in the neighbourhood before. “The RSPCA took them away for us and checked to see if they were chipped – but they weren’t,” he said.

A police spokesman said: “We were called to an address in Silsden at about 7am this morning, following reports of damage to a Toyota Yaris.

“Officers have attended the scene and found damage to a car as well as the bodies of dead cats.

“Police are treating the incident as criminal damage. Inquiries are continuing.”

n The Keighley News has respected the family’s request not to give their full address or name their daughter.