The Edinburgh home of former bank boss Sir Fred Goodwin has been attacked.

Windows were smashed and a car was vandalised at the ex-Royal Bank of Scotland boss' home. It is not known if anyone was in the house at the time of the attack or who reported the vandalism.

On Wednesday morning, a police car stood guard outside Sir Fred's home in the upmarket Morningside area of the city.

Three smashed ground-floor windows of the stone villa were clearly visible. In the driveway, the rear window of a dark-coloured Mercedes S600 saloon was smashed, as well as the nearside rear passenger window. (See a close-up view of the damage)

There were no obvious signs of activity inside the house. A Lothian and Borders Police spokeswoman said: "We can confirm we attended at an address in Morningside around 4.35am today. Inquiries in relation to the incident are ongoing. We are appealing for witnesses."

Sir Fred has been the centre of a scandal in recent months surrounding his £700,000-a-year pension. Under his watch, the bank announced the biggest loss in UK corporate history. RBS are now owned by the government.

It has been reported that the bank continue to pay for personal security for Sir Fred following his departure, including CCTV monitoring of his home.

An RBS spokesman said on Wednesday: "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."

The spokesman would not comment on whether security measures were in place at the time of the vandalism.

E-mail communication sent to media organisations, taking responsibility for the act, 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."

Sir Fred has been subject to heavy criticism after refusing to give up any of his pension. The former RBS chief executive, who stepped down from the post last October, rejected Government pressure to accept a reduction in his package, insisting that changes to the early retirement deal he negotiated when he was forced out in the autumn were "not warranted".

The massive payout was branded "obscene" and "grotesque" by MPs and "unjustifiable and unacceptable" by Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Earlier this month, Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman said the Government was taking "all steps" to challenge the enforceability of his pension contract.

Crime scene investigators inspected the damage. They spent 20 minutes photographing the broken windows, the ground beneath them and collecting some fragments. They also photographed the damage to the car.

One Sir Fred's 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."

Dubbed "Fred the Shred" for his ruthless cost-cutting, Sir Fred boasted of catapulting RBS "to the top of the premier league" with a £49billion deal to capture Dutch rival ABN Amro in 2007. But the acquisition proved disastrous for RBS as the credit crunch gripped markets - exposing the bank's weak balance sheet and bringing the firm to the brink of collapse.

RBS is now nearly 70%-owned by the taxpayer after a £20billion bailout. Last month the bank unveiled a record £24.1billion loss and plans to raise up to £25.5billion from the taxpayer.