ORLANDO, Fla. -- Vandals must have really thought they were hurting Orlando taxpayers when they spray-painted dozens of city-owned cars, but maybe they should have used some better paint.

Vandals spray-painted rude and badly spelled comments about Barack Obama. The vandals were not the brightest bulbs. Not only are they bad spellers, they used paint that came right off.

"They had spray painted all the way down the side, across the lettering," said city of Orlando fleet manager Lee Whitehurst.

When Whitehurst saw the damage, he feared the worst. The damage looked extensive and police estimated it would cost thousands to fix and that would be tax dollars.

"When we first saw them we thought there was extensive damage to the paint and we were afraid we'd have to repaint them all," Whitehurst said.

Now, the only place the paint can be seen is on the pavement where a little solvent, some elbow grease and a pressure washer cleaned the 25 city vehicles in no time at all.

"As it turned out, the paint was a latex, water-based paint. Fortunately for us it just power washed right off," Whitehurst said.

Police are still looking for the culprit, who will be charged with vandalism on each and every vehicle. Some were scrolled with insults to both presidential candidates. Their spelling made it clear these were not the brightest criminal minds.

Some of the vehicles had paint sprayed into their gas tanks. A quick tank flush should avoid any problems there.

In the end, it all cost a little over $2,000 and, considering the location of the crime in busy downtown next to City Hall, police hope tips come in to help them make arrests.