Residents of Londonderry's Fountain estate have been left feeling "scared and intimidated" after reports of homes being attacked by stone-throwing youths, an assembly member has said.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said officers responded to reports of anti-social behaviour in the Nailors Row and Fountain area of the city at about 20:00 BST on Monday.
Police said youths who had gathered in the area dispersed after engagement with officers.
Julie Middleton, a Democratic Unionist Party assembly member (MLA), described the incident as "disgraceful", adding it followed a number of earlier attempts to intimidate residents.
Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme, Middleton said fireworks had been thrown into the estate on Sunday while earlier on Monday, sectarian slurs had been shouted from the walls into the estate.
Residents "feel a loss of hope", she said.
She said their homes "should be a place of solace and peace", adding she had further concerns for residents of a nearby care home.
"There are elderly residents there who should feel safe, secure and at rest, not scared and not wondering what's going on outside or if their window is going to be broken," she said.
The politician said some of those involved in Monday's incident were very young.
"We have to ask - who is influencing them, why are their parents not aware that they're out doing this activity... people need to have conversations with their families and their children advising that violence is wrong," she said.
"We need to see it stop before someone is seriously injured but also in the interests of community relations."
The attack comes just days after youths threw petrol and paint bombs and heavy masonry at police during disorder in the Waterside area of the city.
Middleton said no-one wanted to see "a build-up of violence".
"And we certainly don't want to see young people being used in a way where they're being misguided and encouraged to go out and try out these sort of actions," she said.
Foyle MP Colum Eastwood said the latest incident was "depressing, deeply disappointing and, at its heart, sectarian".
Fountain residents had "become used to regular attacks on their homes from kids throwing stones, bricks and bottles around this time of the year", he said.
Eastwood added: "I am appealing to parents to sit down with their kids and explain the impact it has on a family to have their home attacked or to feel afraid in their own community."
Police have appealed for anyone with footage of the incident, or with information, to come forward.