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6/23/2009 3:33 AM

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Newspapers face a dilemma when vandalism occurs in the communities they cover. Vandals may get extra satisfaction from the publicity their mischief inspires, so a newspaper that publishes articles and photos of vandalism may just be encouraging it. On the other hand, ignoring this activity might deprive the criminals of some of their thrill, but it might also create an atmosphere of acceptance or tolerance of vandalism, and thus encourage it.

The latest incident occurred at St. Luke Cemetery in Bentleyville Friday night, when grave markers were desecrated by graffiti. The damage was reported in Sunday's edition across the top of the front page.

Why? If you're thinking that we intended to provoke outrage among our readers, you're right. We believe that it is better to know about crime in the community than to pretend that it does not exist. We believe that the only way to stop vandals is for the community to be intolerant enough of their activity to aggressively protect their property, seek out the perpetrators and insist on harsh punishment.

Ignoring a problem will not make it go away.

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