A vandal is someone who deliberately damages or destroys property that belongs to someone else or to the public. When someone spray-paints graffiti on a school wall, breaks windows for no reason, or scratches up park benches, they're acting as a vandal. The damage they cause is called vandalism.

Vandals don't break things accidentally or because they need to. They destroy property on purpose, often just because they can or because they think it's funny. A vandal might key someone's car, knock over mailboxes, or tear pages out of library books. The destruction serves no purpose except to damage what others have built or cared for.

Today, vandalism is a crime because it forces others to spend time and money fixing damage they didn't cause. When vandals strike a neighborhood, everyone suffers: shop owners must repair windows, the city must clean up graffiti, and communities lose things they value.