A mysterious culprit is throwing stones almost exclusively at Danish-registered cars driving on Swedish motorways, in a case that continues to puzzle Sweden's national law enforcement. Over 100 Danish drivers have reported having stones strike their vehicles at high speed over the summer, according to national broadcaster Sveriges Television Nyheter (SVT), with most cases occurring on the E65 motorway in southern Sweden. In the warmer months it’s common for Danes to flock north to their Swedish summer houses. The bizarre incidents first came to light on June 16, when a Danish driver posted his experience to a Facebook group dedicated to organizing rideshares. “A boring question: has anyone else had their car violently hit by stones in the past two months?” he wrote. “I have had 2 [strikes] within 3 weeks and know of more!” The post contained a series of images of a cracked windshield. Below the post other drivers commented that they had also been hit and posted images of their own. “We got hit yesterday [6/18/21] out of thin air,” another commenter wrote. “A granite stone landed in the back seat right next to our son. We all have glass splinters on our face, arms, and legs. Thank God we wore sunglasses.” A little over a week later the Danish police tweeted a warning to Danish drivers and Denmark’s Minister of Justice Nick Hækkerup, told Danish media that he would be contacting his Swedish counterpart regarding the case. After sending squad cars to patrol the area, in July police began deploying surveillance drones and even helicopters in search of the mysterious stone thrower—but have yet to find them. Meanwhile, there have been reports of possible copycat attacks. In a phone call with Motherboard, a spokesperson for the Swedish National Police confirmed that the attacks were under investigation, but stated that there were still no suspects in the case. There are a number of confusing things about the case. For one, it would be difficult to identify Danish license plates of cars driving at motorway speeds. Possible motivations also remain unknown. While there is certainly a rivalry between Denmark and Sweden (Danes often joke about an urban legend that it’s technically still legal to beat Swedes with sticks if they cross the frozen-over Øresund strait), this rivalry is mostly playful, at least in the 21st century. Online, Danish drivers have asked for alternative routes to avoid the motorway. “It’s just gotten too insane over there,” one wrote. “Are there alternative ferry routes that can be recommended to avoid it.”
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