AIBU to sabotage the wind chime

[CouldItBeTragic]

We live in a flat and next door has a wooden wind chime on their balcony. It’s constantly doing its windchime thing and annoying me when I work from home. It also annoys my DD at bedtime, her window is on that side of the building too.
The owner of the windchime is a complete witch. She once told DH to go fuck himself when he politely asked her to move her car as she’d blocked us in. He was with our then four year old DD at the time.
She sometimes plays loud music until 3am (about once every three months?), another neighbour asked her to turn it down and was laughed at. I tried another time and she did turn it down (not enough) but the next day her tv was on all day quite loud and her car was gone so we think she was punishing us. All in all she’s not a pleasant person and reasoning with her is out of the question.
And she’s out at work all day, and I work from home and find them damned chimes so annoying! I can reach them from my balcony. Is there anything I can do to dampen the noise? Or ways to deteriorate the wood over time? I can’t just cut the strings or smash the damn thing as don’t want an enemy of this woman, but some subtle sabotage must be possible. Any ideas?

This is hilarious. Can't you just lean over and drop it on the floor. How high up are you?

Yes I would be dropping it on the floor if it were me. You have my sympathy as it would drive me mental hearing that all night.

I fucking hate wind chimes.

Yep, sling it off the balcony and act dumb if she asks. Maybe it blew off, maybe a magpie attacked it 🤷‍♀️ who knows, it’s a mystery.

Don’t think issue is the wind chimes. It’s the fact your neighbour is completely antisocial. So yeah, take the chimes out. If she was approachable, you probably wouldn’t give them a second thought such is our ability to ignore what doesn’t impose on us, because you would know you could approach her about them and find a reasonable way forward for you both.

Really feel for you op

Yes sabotage.

I worked with someone who had this issue. Whenever it was windy he stuck long sticks to a pair of scissors and cut it in the middle of the night (so they would think the wind had done it).
3rd time they never put them back up!

Oh, I feel your pain. Our neighbours have a big metal one. They never sit in their garden to 'enjoy' it and have placed it right next to our fence. The first day I heard it , I couldn't figure out who was playing irritating music on repeat , it's so loud. DS hears it at night and has resorted to earplugs.

The only time anyone goes in their garden , it's their noisy 9 year old who rams footballs at it.

I suspect it was put there purposely to annoy me. It worked.

I hated our neighbours wind chime. It seemed to be one little annoyance after another, then the wind chime went up.
One day, our then teenage DD said to me ‘Isn’t it quiet mum?’…
Yes, she’d cut them down 😄 I can’t really say how she got onto their property and it’s also abit outing.
This was many years ago, they were never replaced.
Thanks DD, although I’m not condoning trespassing of course 🤭

Just read. I’m loving the long scissors idea 😂

And me. Hate hate hate it.😩

They know it bothers me. They also told me they can't hear it (deaf and elderly). Honestly. Just why?!

I can’t just cut it down as it would land on her balcony and she might be able to tell! I was wondering if smearing something on it might repulse her into taking them down? Or something to the wood … but I haven’t got access to anything bad and really can’t risk a criminal charge 😂

Unfortunately, I cannot sabotaged neighbour's, as they also have garden covering CCTV...

Could you put honey on it to attract nasty bees and wasps and flies then they might chuck it away? A discrete layer that can't be seen but would still attract the bugs?

Or milk or cream that would spoil in the sun and start to smell?

My DM used to have wind chimes in the garden and one morning woke up to find the neighbour had climbed over the fence and taken them down. I don’t know why they didn’t just ask, they had a good relationship! DM couldn’t hear it from her bedroom and didn’t realise they could. Makes me smile whenever I think of them creeping around in the dark.

Peanut butter? Infest her with squirrels.

Just take it and throw it to the ground, away from the balcony. A seagull could have taken it? Or a raccoon 😂

I wouldn’t use scissors as seagulls and raccoons don’t have opposing thumbs.

Just do it!

Oh god I detest bloody wind chimes. I would cut it down and remove it, then deny all knowledge 😉

Smearing with a bug attractor - genius

Where is Edward Scissorhands when we need him?

@CouldItBeTragic your neighbour sounds such a toxic nightmare I think any harm coming to the windchime would be well justified.

If she was nice then leave it but she’s a bitch so I can see why it’s tempting to do something to it. But they’re easy to replace

What's it attached to? Is it on a hook? If so lean over and pull the hook out and dump everything on the floor. For all she knows the hook just came loose.

If that's not an option maybe a small squirt of mayo over them so it looks like bird poop? Redo it every day from a slightly different angle.

People that put up wind chimes should be shot.

I think I’d take it down and put it at the bottom of my wheelie bin.