LOS ANGELES — The gut-deep disdain some people have toward Toyota Prius drivers has reached new depths, with violence against the fuel-efficient hybrids more vicious than ever.

In the most brutal of a spate of attacks against the Japanese import this year, investigators concluded that a fire that consumed a newer Prius on a residential street in Los Angeles seven weeks ago was the work of an arsonist.

The car's owner heard an explosion at about 7 a.m. one Friday morning in July, quickly followed by the screaming sirens of fire engines. "I went outside to see what was going on and saw it was my car," she said.

In Petaluma, California, a fairly quiet city north of San Francisco, at least seven Priuses were damaged during a two-week rampage in April.

All of the attacks occurred at night while the cars were parked and unoccupied. Weapons included large rocks, bricks, and a motor vehicle used to ram a Prius.

Prius owner Nina Perkins awoke to a banging outside her home. Someone was taking a hammer to the body and windshield of her car.

Vandals damaged the Prius of another woman twice — two weeks apart. Then, while it was in the shop, someone repeatedly slammed a large rock into the Prius she rented.

No arrests have been made in those or the other Prius attacks in Petaluma.

Toyota spokesman John Hanson believes people perturbed by the whole environmental movement might feel justified in beating up a car that has become an icon for it.

"I have a neighbor like that," he said.

What this means to you: If you're considering or already own a Prius, be wary of parking the car on the street overnight. — Scott Doggett, Correspondent