The tires on hundreds of cars have been slashed in Burnaby, B.C., over the past several months and police are now asking for the public's help in bringing the extended vandalism spree to an end.

Tires on 68 cars were slashed on the night of Dec. 7 at two car dealerships, while more than 100 were vandalized on residential streets in a number of Burnaby neighbourhoods.

The trend started in April, when eight vehicle tires were punctured at an underground parkade at Metrotown mall, followed by slashings on about 60 cars parked in city streets.

Total damage so far is estimated at $200,000.

“Basically, our used car department loses out on the opportunity to sell cars. They're all on flat tires,” said Glen McLarty, of the Carter Auto Group Wednesday.

McLarty believes a knife or screwdriver was used.

"Give it a good punch and away they go," he said. “I can't imagine one person having enough energy to do all that work in one night.”

No suspects

With no suspect description, police in Burnaby are asking for the public for information.

“At this point in time, we don't have a profile of any individual that's doing this. We are appealing to the community for help,” said RCMP Staff Sgt. Andy LeClair.

Investigators say they're not ruling out mental illness as a factor in the crimes.

“Vandalism is real purposeless crime, other than there is just some sort of satisfaction that the individual is getting out of doing that really doesn't make sense to average every day people,” LeClair said.

LeClair also said investigators suspect the same person or group is responsible for all of the incidents.

With files from the CBC's Meera Bains