The van was bought recently following a fundraising campaign A van belonging to a charity has been destroyed in an arson attack in Ballymoney, County Antrim.
The £50,000 vehicle was recently bought by the Community Rescue Service, a volunteer service which searches for missing people.
More than half of the money to buy the van was raised by the mother of James Elliott, a 14-year-old who drowned in a river near the town last year.
Margaret Elliott said the van had helped to provide a vital service.
She said the idea behind the vehicle was to have a place where maps and radio communications could be kept to allow rescue workers to do their job more quickly.
“We raised the money because we didn’t want people to go through what we have gone through; we don’t want other mums to have to suffer the same hurt and pain,” she said.
SDLP assembly member Declan O’Loan said it was “a bizarre and shocking incident”.
“The vehicle was parked in a quiet, out of the way spot and there was no reason to expect such an attack,” he said.
Sinn Fein MLA Daithi McKay said: “It is beyond comprehension why anyone would go out in the middle of the night to destroy a vehicle which is specifically built to save people’s lives.
“It is as equally reprehensible an attack as those on other emergency services.”
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