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A Polish couple whose home was attacked by masked men in Newtownabbey on Wednesday have said they just want to live in peace.

The attack happened at about 20:30 BST, when up to five men smashed windows at the property with a hammer.

The windows of a car were also attacked.

Jacek Sikorski and Marta Kilan told ���˿��� News NI they had been left shaken and had barely slept after what happened.

The couple said their home was previously targeted in February.

Police said on that occasion their living room windows and a front door were broken, possibly with a paving stone.

No one was at home at the time.

Police said they were treating both incidents as hate crimes.

In the latest incident, Ms Kilan said she initially believed the couple's cat had smashed an object before she came downstairs to find two men in her garden holding hammers.

"I just saw this and I ran back upstairs because I was too afraid to go downstairs," she said.

"I didn't know what to do. I was shaking, I was crying.

"I was afraid and so angry."

Ms Kilan said she watched back footage of the incident on home CCTV cameras and saw the men involved had been wearing balaclavas.

"They know we have a Ring doorbell because the first guy when he came in he just smashed it with the hammer," she said.

"I feel really, really bad. I even say to my fiance I don't even want to go to work.

"I feel so bad, I don't feel safe here."

'Just leave me alone'

Mr Sikorski said he had lived in the house for five years and had spent thousands of pounds renovating it.

He praised neighbours for coming to the couple's aid immediately after the attack.

"I cannot move out from here because I will lose everything," he said.

"We are devastated. I don't know generally what to do. I'm not even worried about me, I am worried about my partner, about my pets. I don't want to live in fear."

Asked what her message would be to the gang responsible, Ms Kilan said: "Just leave me alone."

"I am not doing anything wrong. I am working, my partner is working."

"We just moved here to have a better life. I don't think it's a better life to have - every half year - someone is coming and smashing your window."

Referring to the latest attack, Sgt Dickson from the Police Service of Northern Ireland said: "There is no place for hate and we take reports of this nature incredibly seriously.

"It is the responsibility of each and every one of us to ensure that we live in a society where diversity is respected,."