New Iberia, Louisiana residents look forward to an annual Christmas parade in the downtown area. Sheena Mayes and her son parked in a free parking lot and walked to enjoy the parade, and that’s when a real-life Grinch got to work.

When she returned to her white Toyota Tacoma, she noticed something wasn’t right from a distance.

“I noticed something read on my hood,” she told KATC. “As we got closer, I saw that it was completely covered in spray paint.”

Mayes was one of four drivers with white vehicles that were vandalized with red spray paint. The hoods, doors, and rear tailgates were covered in it – some even bore foul profanity. Some even had racial slurs sprayed onto their cars.

Mayes’s son was the most upset about the vandalism.

“My five-year-old son was super upset, and he said, ‘Oh my God, mom! What is that? Someone messed up our car!’ And he started crying and everything. It was heartbreaking for me to see him react like that.”

Other parade-goers suspected the vandalism was done by rowdy teens

One woman suspected a group of mischievous teens, as she saw them running from the same lot the cars were vandalized in.

“I thought maybe there was a fight,” she said. “But when we got back to our cars, we saw people talking about the vandalism. It was heartbreaking.”

The four drivers were left without many options, other than paying hundreds for a professional to remove the spray paint.

And then they met Jon

Jonathon DeRise, a retired deputy from the area, spent his retirement opening up a vehicle detailing business. When he heard about what happened to the four drivers, he offered a helping hand.

“I just posted on Facebook, like, ‘Hey, if your car got vandalized, contact me. I’ll take the paint off for free,'” he said. Before he knew it, his post reached hundreds of users. Many shared the post, and eventually, it reached Mayes.

“For him to say that he’ll fix it and cover the cost, it helped a lot,” said Mayes. Jon brought her truck back to showroom condition and even fixed a squeaky door and detailed the interior.

Jon said he didn’t do it to get a pat on the back. Instead, it was to spread some joy.

“All of it, 100% for free,” he said. “I’m not looking for a handout or recognition. I don’t really like even being on the news or anything, I just want to do something positive and focus on doing the right thing in the community.”