Police Chief Bobby Dodd said he has assigned a detective to work on a rash of flat tires that popped up over the weekend.
He said, "We have had over 40 incidents with tires being slashed, valve stems being cut, and punctured by some type of roofing tacks.
"The city of Chattanooga has replaced 44 tires on 22 different vehicles.
"These events have happened all over town - not just on the south side and the East Lake area.
"I have assigned a detective to work on these cases due to the number of incidents and the amount of money loss."
Some of the multiple victims said it appeared their tires had been sliced with an ice pick.
Steve Ray, the owner of Midnite Oil in Ooltewah, said he had several people come in with flat tires and each customer had both tires on the passenger side slashed.