More than 50 political hoardings from across parties trashed, vandalised just hours after going up

National MP Nick Smith's caravan was vandalised with red paint.

More than 50 election hoardings have been destroyed or vandalised over the weekend, with boards from both Labour and National targeted.

Some of the boards were damaged just hours after being installed on Saturday.

Replacements won't come out of the party's election advertising allowance due to the damage.

Parties are eligible for just under $1.2 million each in advertising expenses, as well as an extra $28,200 for each electoral district they're contesting.

Billboards promoting National's Chris Bishop and Jacqui Dean, MPs for Hutt South and Waitaki respectively, were destroyed in apparent deliberate attacks during the weekend.

In Nelson, National MP Nick Smith's caravan was vandalised with red paint smeared over the window and side.

Hoardings promoting Labour's Northcote candidate Shanan Halbert were targeted with graffiti in Auckland, while current Northcote MP Dan Bidois shared an image of another sabotaged hoarding promoting Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

In the vandalism, Ms Ardern's eyes was crossed out, she was given a mustache and beard, and the words "communism" and "wanker" written.

"This kind of vandalism is not acceptable anywhere in our community!" Mr Bidois wrote on Facebook.

For some of the billboards, the weekend attacks came just hours after installation.

National's campaign chair Gerry Brownlee says the widespread vandalism "is not new or exclusive to one party".

"Sadly, inside New Zealand’s peaceful democracy, there are people who do not appreciate how fortunate we are to live here and are free to seek to be representatives of the people and to be able to choose who goes to Parliament and forms Government," he told 1 NEWS.

The sentiments were echoed by a spokesperson for the Labour Party, who says it's something that happens on most election campaigns.

"Like other political parties, we do have our hoardings damaged," they say.

"It's disappointing for our volunteers who work very hard to put them up, but it is a bit of a fact of life."

Some of the hoardings have been cleaned up, the graffiti removed, while others have been replaced due to the damage.

Mr Brownlee says each hoarding costs around $25 for the printed panel, plus more for the timber frame.

Around 50 of their hoardings were vandalised after being installed on Saturday, he says.

Each party is allocated a set amount of money in election advertising expenses under the Electoral Act.

However the cost of replacing the hoardings is excluded from those expenses, if they've been "destroyed or rendered unusable" by not associated with the promotion or the "occurrence of an event beyond [their] control".

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