An Edinburgh woman had her disabled badge stolen during the night when thieves smashed her car window and made off nothing other than the blue document.
Jackie Hutchinson said she was awoken during the night various times due to her car alarm going off on Torrance Park, Clermiston, but thought it was just the wind and turned it off.
While taking the bin out in the morning, she was shocked to see the drivers side window of her blue Renault was smashed and her disabled badge gone.
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The 33-year-old product manager said: "The alarm went off at like 3am but I quite often leave the back window down a little as I have a dog and thought that the wind had got it so I switched the alarm off, but didn't go out. It then went off again and I thought 'the neighbours are going to hate me, but I'm not going out'."
"Then I went out this morning, June 3, and discovered the glass all over the road and realised my badge was gone.
"There's actually a few people in the area, including one of my friends, who say they've seen similar reports in the area yesterday and there was a woman round the corner that her mum's car got broken into and her little sisters blue badge got stolen."
After posting what had happened on a local Facebook group, people in the comments had advised Jackie to remove the badge at night or when it wasn't in use. However, as she uses a disabled parking space near her home, it's not as easy as that.
Using the badge due to problems with one of her knees and arthritis, Jackie says she will now have to wait up to two weeks to get a new badge sent out, although working from home means there's no urgent need for the car.
"I've only lived in the house for a year so I'm not sure if it's a hotspot for crime. At first I did wonder why they had smashed my car, though. There was actually keys in there, not in plain sight, but keys to my parents house and other belongings that I thought they may have taken.
"My dad is actually an ex-police officer and he told me crimes like this are quite common. As the badge has just been renewed, that person effectively has two years free parking now. Never have I been asked by someone to see the photo on the back of the badge in the whole time I've owned it.
"There's not actually a useful way to report a lost or stolen badge either. You can order a new one, but there's not really anything in place to help if you've had one stolen. It directs you to your local council and when you phone, it says that due to Covid, they're not taking calls."
In the meantime, Jackie has had a Perspex replacement fitted while she claims through her insurance to cover the damages.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "On Friday, 3 June, officers received a report of a car broken into on Torrance Park, Edinburgh. Officers will speak to the reporter to gather more details."
