Vigilantes in the northern Italy municipality of Caprino sabotaged a newly installed average speed camera device last Saturday night. Two of the five column-mounted cameras were ripped out of the ground. The "speed check" machines work in pairs, identifying and tracking every passing vehicle. A speed estimate is created by measuring the amount of time it took to pass between columns that can be set miles apart from one another. Police found the missing columns had been discarded on the side of the road in various locations around the province.

Vigilantes have targeted nearly every average speed camera in the area. Months ago, the automated ticketing machine in Vilmezzano was uprooted. Stung by the loss of revenue, local officials moved quickly to repair the camera while vowing to redouble enforcement efforts.

"This vandalism argues in favor of a more repressive system which will now be constantly enabled," Commissioner Fabio Beltrame told L'Arena.