He "wanted to protect the environment", by scratching paint? Was he trying to make the car lighter, thus improving it's mileage? I'll write this off as just a nut-job.

The important thing is no one should attack other peoples property because they disagree with their views. You shouldn't scratch a Harley because they are too loud, or a Ferrari because you think they make too much money etc. Isn't that just about being a civilized human?

nice going, to bad he got busted, they should be scrapped and recyceled into something useful.

Idiot. Not only should he pay the damages, he should also be forced to educate himself on what causes the most CO2 pollution cause it ain't SUV's!

"He may also be forced to pay for the damage"? Anyone who vandalises anothers property should pay for the repairs!

When he was London mayor, Ken Livingstone refered to SUVs as 'Chelsea Tractors' because they were the urban vehicle of choice for wealthy west London residents. He attempted to charge owners with an additional 'congestion charge' for clogging streets and increasing pollution. He failed.

So a well grown up man, 47 years old, probably a loser/loner, decided to vandalize third party's property and blame it on "stress"?

Hey "may" be forced to pay. IMHO, he should be MADE, no question about it. Irrespective of the type of car, it is someone else's property. This country has far too lacks laws where people get away with blue murder. This mindless destruction of property and a slap on the wrist is no way to ensure either a) he never does it again, or b) someone else doesn't copy him and get off with the same light sentence.

I applaud this man. There's hardly any space to bike in Amsterdam let alone SUVs. The Government should increase taxes on cars by 100-200% more. The Netherlands national transport is bicycle and that's what everyone should use as well. For the petroheads, there's always the US - so stay there

in retrospect it would be smarter to just put sugar in the gas tank...

Fine if they are actually used offroad, but just for the school run, shopping or posing, then I'm against. Half the owners don't know how to drive them. Seem not to realise the concept of mirrors or blind spots.

He needn't have bothered. I'm surprised there isn't more paint scraped off an SUV just trying to drive those stupid vehicles along a typical Dutch street...

Kudos to this civilized man's civilized action. May god bless NL for raising such gentlemen.

I guess at least some of the SUV owners had to go get new paint jobs. Does Van E believe the by-products of auto shops are enviro-friendly? Or didn't he think it through that far? I understand why people don't like SUV's (I don't either) but his way of protesting was just stupid.

True, owning an SUV for purely urban use is not sensible and *may* increase CO2 emission (since many are diesel with reduced fuel consumption, it's not so obvious).

But what about other large vehicles, like people carriers? The differences in emissions between a European SUV (I'm not counting giant-sized US ones here) and a people carrier, or any other large car, is, I would expect, likely to be sufficiently small that, in fact, driving style and conditions will be the dominant factor in emissions.

Reducing CO2 emissions is of vital importance but this will never be achieved by scratching paint or other sabotage: the repair process can only cause more emissions!

@V: try living in Lelystad (where a middle-class wage can buy a house), work near IJmuiden and bike everyday.

Amsterdam has an EXTENSIVE segregated bike path network. Grade-separated from traffic in many streets.

I think you are just trolling.

The man is not a nutjob, nor an idiot: he is a criminal. Why would the same people who 'support' this guy be horrified by the suggestion that they should support terrorists too (after all, aren't they just trying to change society too by using criminal acts against fellow man?) Crime is crime, and it shouldn't pay, and it shouldn't - ever - create 'heroes'.

47, 'artist' which means he's either means he's doing nothing (uitkering), mentally disturbed (his art compares to a 3 year olds thus doesn't sell), or he's just a crap artist and looking for cheap publicity. Or he's one of these guys who never fully developed into adulthood and thought he could do whatever he wanted...

I live in Canada and drive SUV's for health reasons I can not get in a regular car because of back problems. The one I have is a 4 cylinder escape good on gas keeping in mind that gas is $1.20/ltr wich is cheaper than in the Netherlands. However, long dstances are the problem here. driving from E to W is 6 to 7 days so a carmust be comfy I agree with some of the comments made bt others but if you cannot drive a car one should not drive a SUV.

+ days driving from coast to coast witdsc

If all SUV owners who don't really need such a big car, would drive small cars instead, that would mean less pollution, and more available (parking) space in narrow Dutch town streets.

How many SUV's with only 1 person in it do you guys see driving around?

Disgusting, "J". I am disabled, as are my parents and those of my partner, and cars are just essential for some of us to get around and live normal lives. The taxes and charges we already have to pay to own one are obscene in this country. Try thinking outside your own little bubble for a change.

I tend to agree with Martin. Van E. is obviously guilty of a series of crimes, and should be punished accordingly. However, there is a narrow street where I live which is filled with fashionable bars & restaurants. Yet there is a constant stream of top-end SUVs that cruise this street, forcing pedestrians against the walls and diners to suffer both noise and air polution. I'm OK with anyone owning an SUV if they need one, but in this street its simply a statement of 'look at how rich I am' = Insecurity.

Good point about needing bigger cars for disabled. I have ME now and rely on a mobility scooter if I have to walk more than 50 meters or be standing for long. It's collapsible, but barely fits into our little car - there's no room for passengers. We have to rent a bigger car to travel around with my parents while they visit. An SUV is certainly a sensible choice in some situations, and it's ridiculous to pre-judge their drivers.

In general, SUV are bad and pointless. But there are actually valid reasons for driving one — one of the commenter's mentioned health reasons, another one would be people who for one reason or another have poor road access to home/work (this does actually happen, even if rarely).

So even if the chances are he damaged only cars belonging to selfish show-offs, he didn't really know that for sure, not even close to sure. The solution isn't to vandalize other's (possibly very important) property, it's to tax the cars and offer write-offs to people who actually need them.

Absurd.Once identified in a crime, a Psycho should be interned not slapped on the wrist.