The focus should be on “the guy at the top writing the checks,” not on the “foot soldiers” trashing the cars, he added.

“My guess is that if we do get to the bottom of this, we’re going to find out that there are some very crazy, very deranged, but very wealthy Left-wing people who are funding this stuff,” he said.

Mr Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, shared videos of the carnage via X, and said he had been shocked by the “hatred and violence from the Left”.

Activists have staged “Tesla takedown” protests across the globe in opposition to his sweeping cuts to federal jobs and spending under his Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).

The agency has also cancelled a series of overseas humanitarian programmes, including the biggest HIV programme in the world in South Africa.

Hackers have also reportedly posted what it is claimed are the names, addresses and phone numbers of Tesla owners across the US on an online searchable map. Activists are pressuring owners to sell the vehicles. The web page associated with the map appeared to be down when visited by The Telegraph on Wednesday.