I would suggest that you document everything that you observe ... date and time if possible. With still photos.

Good idea to go to local police and share your concerns. Back it up with a certified letter, detailing all that has happened. Become familiar with the local trespass laws/ordinances. Ditto for city council member. The police should be able to help you with cameras.

Is it practical for you to get one or two largish dogs?

Is it possible for you to take in a room mate, so that house is seldom empty?

By "tweaker" do you mean Meth-users? These folks can be dangerous. Did your home show evidence of parties while it was empty before you bought it?

You say other neighboring homes are not the target for these acts of vandalism. Do any of those folks have an idea of who might be doing it?

Well .... hope some of these ideas will help you. Don't blame you for being creep'd out. I'm wondering if there are other websites that would have practical info. Good luck!

Found a point on the link below that I hadn't thought of. Seems to be from UK, but still good advice: "If you own your own home you should check ALL your house Insurance Policies (Contents and Buildings) to see if you have access to a legal helpline or legal cover - these are often free and included within insurance policies, but check first before using any service that you may get charged for! Contact your Insurance Company in the first instance for advice. If not then you need to consult a Solicitor. "

Here is a link that might be useful: Coping with NFH

Can you get to know your neighbors? (not the tweakers) I think you could make some friends that would possibly give you some insight as to who might doing this and keep an eye out for you. Definitely contact the police/sheriff to put them on alert. Contact an alarm company. They can get you set up with cameras and alarm your gates, as well as install a warning sign. I think borderbarb may be right about your home being used for parties or??? What a crazy situation. Good luck to you.

This is a legal or property security matter, not a gardening matter. Good luck.

It's true this is not a gardening matter, but OP is asking for help.

I would be against the advice of getting large dogs, unless you want to see them poisoned.

There is not much point in documenting what has happened but a lot of police departments let you file reports online. You should do that anyway because it gives police a record of reported crimes. If you keep filing trespass, property damage/theft reports each time they might actually increase patrols in the area.

Definitely get a surveillance camera. The video has to be clear and conclusive for anyone to be charged. There was a recent case here in the Bay Area where a guy was beating his dog on the balcony. A neighbor filmed it and the police said it needed to show the guys face clearly. The dude kept filming on future days and eventually they had video they would prosecute with.

Lock the gates, mailman doesn't need access if you put a mailbox out front (Probably need to get the kind you lock as well)

Good luck..

I would identify the perps before taking any other preventive measures. Good quality video sounds right. Motion detectors rigged to lights and a camera might work. Once you know who they are, and they know you know, you may not have to do anything else.

Do you have any large, dangerous-looking male friends? Pay one to stay over at your house while you are away. He may find a way to discourage your "visitors".

It sounds to me like you are dealing with Neanderthals. I doubt that "nice" deterrents are going to work. You may have to sink to their level to find a solution.

Before buying a house, you should talk to the neighbors, and visit the neighborhood at night. You might get some valuable insights that the realtor may have "overlooked".

An old Victorian house in our neighborhood was empty for 7 years. Homeless people had been living in the back yard, breaking in, etc. When the house finally went on the market the "for sale" sign kept mysteriously disappearing, etc. Perhaps some of this vandalism is from angry folks who think they "own" your property? This might explain why none of the other houses in your neighborhood are getting "trashed".

Most of the suggestions by others above are good, except I would also be concerned about the well being of any dogs. You might want to do an experiment, and have a house sitter there for 1-2 weeks during the day, with a camera, presuming the back yard is visible from the house - pictures with also an eye witness would have more weight.

Our new neighbors who bought the previously empty Victorian house put in taller solid fences, with LOCKED gates. That stopped the problems they were having. Getting to know your "normal" neighbors is a very good idea - why don't you throw a block party? The weird ones probably won't come. Good luck!

Jackie

Thanks, everybody! Sorry to put this in the wrong forum, I just couldn't figure out where to put it, and I thought some other people with inviting gardens may have also had trouble keeping people out of them. The garden that came with the house is really striking, and people who drive past often slow down to look at it or ask me about it. There's 70-something raised beds that are covered in patterns of tiles. It's a VERY conspicuous house. So I'm actually a little surprised that tweakers are targeting it, instead of somewhere less conspicuous.
So, I just bought a gigantic "NO TRESPASSING - violators will be prosecuted" sign today. It's ugly, but I guess I need it. And a solar-powered motion light, which I'll install tomorrow. I also found a crack pipe in my backyard today. :( It was hidden underneath a pile of weeds I'd pulled a few days ago and left on one of my garden paths, so someone has definitely been in my yard in the last few days.
RE: tweakers (yeah, I mean meth)...There's a big meth problem in this town, and there isn't a single neighborhood that's immune to it. When I bought the house there was no evidence of parties inside, though - in fact it was completely pristine inside every time I looked at it. And I never saw any trash around the house before I bought it, but now the sidewalk on one side has become a dump yard and shopping cart parking lot. :(
RE: getting to know the neighbors...I'm on a corner, and my next door neighbors are a little sketchy, unfortunately. Very unapproachable. Come to think of it, so are the elderly couple across the street, and most of the neighbors in general. At least one person has been looking after my house while I'm at work, though, because someone yelled at my brother-in-law when he dropped off a compost bin in my yard, demanding to know what he was doing there.
RE: surveillance cameras. I've thought about getting one but wouldn't know how to hard-wire it. Is this something the police might help with??? I'm not sure I'd want anyone to KNOW I had a surveillance camera, though, because I'm afraid my sketchy next door neighbors are either selling drugs or growing marijuana and I don't want them to think I'm trying to get them busted. Because if they were busted, they'd just end up right back in the house, with a grudge (the family has owned that house since the '50s, so they're not going anywhere). I don't want to start any sort of war with the neighbors. Does anyone know if you legally have to post a sign when you have a surveillance camera? Thanks!

One thing that I forgot to mention I would advise doing immediately. Contact your areas' neighborhood association - most neighborhood's have them - your City's website or Community Development department should be able to tell you its name and how to contact it.

Neighborhood associations almost always get better response from the Police/City/Code enforcement, etc. than individual homeowners do. They will have contacts at City Hall and in the Police Dept, and will know who to call, whether there have been other on-going problems like this, etc. I am on the Board of our neighborhood association, and every month we get one or two complaints from neighbors about something. We are usually able to get the City's attention fairly quickly. Also, we are a third party, so neighbors don't have to confront each other - it works quite well, try it if you can.

Jackie

Thanks! I'm not sure if my particular neighborhood has an association, but I will look into it. I think maybe what's been going on is that this yard was a pick-up location for drugs? After finding the crack pipe yesterday and putting up the "no trespassing" sign, I noticed today that someone had pulled back all the dichondra around the base of a big statue in the yard, as if they were looking for something that had been hidden there. There are lots of little alcoves in the yard that I'd never even notice something hidden in. Clearly it's been being used for *something*! Hope no one else has to go through this... I guess that's what I get for buying a house that was vacant for 7 years!

i feel your pain, my boyfriend just sold his house after 15 years of painstaking restoration. he couldn't deal with his neighbors, but he shared a drive with them. he kept a meticulous log, including the over 100 different license plate numbers, etc. he was threatened, had property damage, the police were never any help. the neighbors were also"legacy owners" grandkids that fell into ownership of the house. unfortunately being d*#@!##'s and threatening S.O.B.'s doesn't seem to be illegal, and jerks sometimes really know how to work the system so they can intimidate you just to the point of being illegal. the nieghborhood association was worthless, frankly, he wasn't the kind of guy to threaten back, there is the real possibility of retaliation, but we joked about hiring some bikers to live there for a couple of months. just to balance things out a bit :) cameras, cameras, cameras, and motion lights. really, get it on tape, the BEST way. if your neighbors don't like it, tell them you're only capturing your yard and you don't care what they do. good luck to you...

Call police..let the area see cops cars around your home. And install as many security devices as you can..lights,cameras,locks. It helps,no doubt about that. But you cant make city life go away all the time. Still, a well aimed spot..

Crooks like cockroaches, hate light on them.

I recently moved into the Tower District in Fresno and your neighborhood sounds a lot like parts of the Tower. Fortunately, my neighborhood is a little more normal and I've been able to know all of my neighbors which has really helped ease some fears of people wanting to break in.

Early last year, I had someone break into a company car while I was parked in my driveway so I installed cameras on my property that are motion activated. I made sure that the cameras were not hidden from view because the very presence of surveillance cameras is usually enough to deter all but the most determined of criminals. I bought mine from C O S T C O. They have the wireless cameras that don't need any special wiring. All you need to do is connect each camera to a power source and, if you want to view the video online, connect the main control panel to your internet modem with an Ethernet chord. If you don't want or need online access to your recorded video content, you don't need anything except a power outlet to connect each camera. I ran a power strip through my attic and mounted my cameras along the roofline on the outside, connecting each one to the power source in the attic.

Good luck!