ABSTRACT
Both the number of recorded incidents of vandalism, and the cost of making good the damage so caused, show an almost exponential increase over recent years. The foregoing notwithstanding, there is a degree of consensus among writers on the subject upon the necessary, if not the sufficient, conditions for an act resulting in damage to be defined as vandalism. Firstly, the damaged property must be owned by 'someone' at the time it sustains the damage. Secondly, to constitute vandalism, the damaged property must belong to someone else. As with acquisitive vandals, the intention of the actors and the effect of their actions have to be clearly distinguished if one is to obtain a full understanding of the event. 'Ban the Cane', scrawled in a childish hand on the school wall, is a particular form of graffiti which occurs with sufficient frequency to justify the creation of specific sub-set of the category, namely 'Ideological Vandalism'.
