My friend's family installed a backyard pool, and that's when it all started.
They were perfectly within the town by-laws, and didn't have parties or anything. However, the elderly woman next door decided she hated them for installing this pool. She started by putting up all kinds of plastic sheets and packaging materials on her fence, held on with clothespins. Then she took to pissing along the fence whenever she had to go, presumably to make it stink so they wouldn't want to go out there. She progressed to smashing glass bottles and jars on her back patio stones, near the fence. She would swear at my friend's 9-year-old sister and her friends when they were swimming, so the family called the police and reported her for harassment.

The police came, the woman's son (who lived in the next house down) defended her, and the cops just gave her a warning.

The next day, the family discovered their two cars in the driveway had been spray-painted bright orange in any parts that couldn't be seen easily from the road. Police called again, but of course there was no definitive proof that the old bat had done it.

Soon after, a large knife hole was found in the sid of the pool, about halfway down, on that neighbour's side. She had cut right through the metal siding and the liner, and the water had drained out all over the yard. Police called again, still no proof it was her so she was let go.

Then the woman and her son filed a lawsuit against the family, two million dollars for "emotional distress". The family countersued for four million dollars (they figured, one million per family member) citing the same reason.

Before the lawsuit was actually wrapped up in court, the woman ended up threatening the 9-year-old with a knife while she was playing in the yard. Police were called, woman was thrown in jail, problem solved! The police were taking it particularly seriously as only a couple of months earlier a toddler was murdered by her neighbour in the same city, and the fear was still fresh. Lawsuit was thrown out, woman never returned. And they all lived happily ever after.
(ghettobooty, Tue 30 Aug 2005, 18:36, Reply)