Unidentified "vandals" have attacked Israeli military vehicles, slashing tyres and spraying graffiti in an apparent response to the demolition of West Bank settlement homes, the army said on Wednesday.

In a statement, the military said the attack occurred overnight at a base north of Ramallah in the West Bank.

"Overnight, initial reports indicate that unidentified vandals broke into a military base north of Ramallah and vandalised thirteen vehicles," the statement said.

The attackers punctured tyres, shattered windows and sprayed "graffiti against IDF (Israel Defence Forces) commanders and against dismantling of structures in the Jewish community of Migron earlier this week," it added.

"Police (are) currently investigating the incident viewed by the IDF as severe."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak strongly condemned the attack, which the premier called "despicable criminality aimed at commanders and vehicles that protect the lives of Jewish citizens in Judea and Samaria," using the Biblical name for the West Bank.

In a statement, Barak stressed that the perpetrators "will shortly be apprehended."

"Acts of vandalism against Israelis and Palestinians are aimed at disrupting the routine in Judea and Samaria and causing an escalation in these sensitive times," he added.

The Yesha Council, which represents the settler movement, strongly condemned the vandalism.

"The perpetrators should immediately hand themselves over to the police, and the security forces should uproot this despicable phenomenon," they said in a statement.

"This is a moral crime of the worst type, which causes huge damage to the settler movement in Judea and Samaria."

The statement said the attack "runs counter to the values and conscience of hundreds of thousands of Israelis living in the region, who were no less hurt by the destruction of the Migron structures than the criminals."

Overnight on Sunday, hundreds of police and soldiers entered the West Bank settlement outpost of Migron and dismantled three structures under a defence ministry order backed by the Supreme Court.

Hardline settlers have adopted what they call a "price tag" policy under which they attack Palestinians and their property in response to Israeli government measures against settlements.

But a military spokesman said this appeared to be the first time a "price tag" attack had been carried out against military property.

On Monday, the day after the demolition, a group of attackers set fire to a mosque in the Palestinian West Bank town of Qusra.

The attackers sprayed Hebrew graffiti on the mosque's exterior walls, including insults against the Prophet Mohammed, a Star of David, and the word "Migron."

The attack was condemned by the Palestinians and the European Union, as well as by Netanyahu.

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