An unwelcome surprise for the owners and employees of a trio of businesses on Elizabeth Street in Okotoks Thursday morning.

Boothill Gallery Owner, Carol Bishop, says she thinks the businesses were vandalized overnight.

"You know, it would look like there's a bunch of kids around, because they did damage to our property," she says. "They did some damage to the dollar store (Dit n Dat), and the dance studio next door. We did call the RCMP, they came out and said there were a rash of incidents throughout Okotoks."

Bishop says the vandals ripped a whole bunch of plywood off the back of their sea-can, damaged their trailer, and a few other items out back.

She says they damaged a cart from the dollar store, and pushed a trailer into a cement wall next door.

Bishop says while the cost to repair the damage may not be too high, she still hopes those responsible are caught.

"Basically I'm just hoping if anyone saw anything (Wednesday) night, that they'll contact the RCMP and help us catch these guys," she says. "We all work hard for our stuff, now we have to fix all the damage, hardly seems fair. For us (the cost) is probably minimal, it's more the time and effort that goes into it. But, at the end of the day, it's just ridiculous that they think it's ok to come and damage people's properties."

Bishop says she drove by the store just after 2 a.m. Thursday morning and saw the damage, so the vandalism occurred before that time.

While the RCMP haven't released any information about the vandalism, anyone with more information should contact them or Crimestoppers.

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