Sir Fred Goodwin's home vandalised by mystery anti-banker activists

Windows were smashed at the former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive's Edinburgh villa.

Windows of a Mercedes S600 parked in the driveway were also broken. No one was at the house at the time of the attack.

A group issued a statement to a newspaper today claiming responsibility for the attack.

Sir Fred, the most prominent of the former bankers blamed for leading Britain's high street lenders to ruin, is at the centre of public fury over his £703,000-a-year pension.

The statement said: "We are angry that rich people, like him, are paying themselves a huge amount of money, and living in luxury, while ordinary people are made unemployed, destitute and homeless. This is a crime. Bank bosses should be jailed. This is just the beginning."

Police were examining the statement today. A police car stood guard outside Sir Fred's home this morning as two crime scene experts from the Scottish Police Services Authority inspected the damage.

Three smashed ground-floor windows of the stone villa were visible, as were the damaged rear and passenger windows of the dark-coloured Mercedes saloon.

Sir Fred has been heavily criticised for refusing to give up any of his £703,000-a-year pension after his departure from RBS last October. He has even considered leaving the country because of his "hate figure" status. RBS has continued to pay for his personal security, including CCTV monitoring of his home.

One of his neighbours said the attack on his house was wrong but she had little sympathy for him. The woman, who gave her first name as Deirdre, said: "Sympathy? Exactly the opposite.

"If I was him I would have refused to have all this money and I would be mortified at what had happened to the bank.

"I think it's wrong, but I can understand if you lose your job and everything. He is getting millions which he doesn't need.

"If I was him I would take virtually no money and I would try to support more people in jobs."

She added: "He was a bit of a nuisance when he had security guards around and so on but as far as we were concerned we didn't have anything to do with him."

Sir Fred and his family were said to be "shaken" by the attack.

An RBS spokesman said today: "We are aware of the incident but it is a matter for police. There are security arrangements in place for Sir Fred, as is normal practice for departing executives. As we've said before, they will be reviewed in the coming months."

Sir Fred has rejected government pressure to accept a reduction in his £16million package. His payout was branded "obscene" and "grotesque" by MPs and "unjustifiable and unacceptable" by Gordon Brown.

Asked if the Prime Minister had sympathy for Sir Fred, a No10 spokesman said: "On the specific question of damage to his property, there can be no excuse for people breaking the law."