EDITORIAL: The never-ending fight against vandalism

Let's face it. There are a lot of knuckleheads in this world.

Now, you could argue that name-calling is a poor way to start a conversation, but in this case, it is justified.

What exactly are we so fired up about?

Vandalism. Destruction of public and private property. 

It's a long-running problem that sadly, shows little sign of going away because there are people who have too much time on their hands and too little respect for the very communities they call home.

Case in point: Most recently, someone poured gasoline or some chemical that burned long stretches of grass in Coeur d'Alene. Now, why anyone would want to do something like that, we can only wonder. Why in the world would you carry about a container of liquid so you could kill grass? 

Every once in a while, police will actually track down the responsible parties, but as they have their hands full keeping citizens safe, it can't be high on their priority list. 

Most government agencies do a great job of quickly repairing the damage to easy targets like public restrooms and parks, where security cameras are not in operation. The community generally isn't aware of all the vandalism that goes on in our towns, but our cities do because they're the ones that have to spend time and resources cleaning and repairing and even rebuilding the mess left behind. 

Staff are sometimes not keen on even talking about the vandalism that goes on for fear it will instigate an increase in such behavior.

We bring it up because it's unacceptable. We encourage residents who see it going on to report it to police. In the end, it comes out of the taxpayers' pockets, so we have a vested interest in stopping it. 

To be clear, we're not asking you to confront anyone, as a person who doesn't respect property likely won't respect others, either. But, perhaps with an entire community keeping watch, those who would destroy private and public property will be less inclined to do so.