Marcia, a resident of Faith Avenue, told The Guardian that she believes the people in her "loving area" who paint graffiti on buildings and walls are harmless. It she seriously believes that then she will also believe that she can leave her money and jewellery exposed to the thieves in that "loving area" and nothing will be taken.

Forget the fancy names that are given to them such as "taggers" or "graffiti artists" or some such fancy epithet, these people are criminals pure and simple as they continuously and consistently destroy people's property, and in some of their writings, brag about the crimes they have committed.

According to an Internet site graffiti is the most common type of property vandalism with the four primary motivating factors for graffiti vandalism being fame, rebellion, self-expression, and power. It states that many studies show the majority of "taggers" are males between 12 and 21 years old, with approximately 15 per cent of graffiti vandals being young females. It also says that the ultimate fame for graffiti vandals is getting the media to publish photos and videotape of what they have done.

This fact was borne out to the Guardian by the 18-year-old graffiti vandal Spookz who considers himself an artist with a "prominent" position in the community.

"Painting my name on the main road is the best, it helps my reputation. I want people to know that I exist. That's my way of saying, hey, I'm here."

There are too many youngsters about in the society with that mindset and they are costing the Government, business owners and the ordinary taxpayers astronomical sums of money. It is time that a proper handle be put on this type of criminal activity.

Graffiti is not a new phenomenon in The Bahamas as the markings have been an eyesore at various times for decades, and they have almost always been the work of young people who are involved in gang activity and craving attention.

It's not good enough for the police to say that they are watching "well known" graffiti artists and to say to them "we have our eyes on you." If these people who are breaking the law are so "well known" they should be arrested and locked up as the police should already have evidence of what they have done. In addition to whatever sentence they are given, they should be made to paint out the filth that they have placed on people's property, and it should be that they have to also buy the paint and whatever materials are necessary.

They can get the attention they want but it must come at a cost to themselves rather than the people who have become victims of their ill-conceived ideas of art.