Mailboxes in Ngongotaha were knocked off their perches and one was smashed to smithereens after a three-street rampage.
The mass vandalism happened sometime on Saturday night or Sunday morning and left many people cleaning up their streets on Sunday.
Rotorua police prevention manager Inspector Ed Van Den Broek said police had received a number of reports of vandalism from residents of Parawai Rd, Beaumonts Rd and Oakland Pl in Ngongotaha.
Mr Van Den Broek said police were investigating, but if anyone had any information as to who might be responsible they should give police a call.
An Oakland Pl resident said he woke up to the destruction on Sunday morning.
His mailbox was made from brick and had been smashed. He had reported the damage to his insurance company, but said he would more than likely foot the bill himself due to excess payments. The man, who didn't want to be named, said he was relieved to hear he was not alone. "It means it's not a vendetta," the man said.
"It wouldn't have been easy [for them to smash]. We thought they had used a car but there's no tyre marks. It's pretty mindless."
He said they didn't get much traffic past his home but there was a public footpath nearby. He had reported the vandalism to police.
Residents were posting about their mailboxes on social media. One woman posted that she saw her mailbox had been smashed at 7.30am.
"Just about every letterbox in Parawai Road were either beaten to death, ripped out the ground or thrown into the drain across the road," she wrote. "They must have had a crow bar."
Most mailboxes had been repaired by yesterday with some still bearing the damage, including one on Parawai Rd that was dented from the impact.
Anyone who needs to report a vandalised mailbox can call (07) 348 0099 and quote incident number P018563846.