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The first time the term was used was probably January 10, 1794 during the French Revolution, by Henri Grégoire, constitutional bishop of Blois, in his report directed to the Republican Convention , where he used word Vandalisme to describe some aspects of the behaviour of the republican army. However, the term Vandal (English) or Vandale (French) with pejorative meaning was in use in English at least since the 17th century.

Throughout history, the ritual destruction of monuments of a previous government or power has been one of the greatest symbols showing the attempt at transition of power (illustration, below left) After the Emperor Caracalla had his co-Emperor Geta assassinated, all depictions or references to Geta were systematically destroyed. Faces and genitals of surviving Greek and Roman sculpture often show how they have been systematically attacked. In palimpsests, text has been washed off parchment that have been overwritten with new text; the existence of effaced manuscripts that were not subsequently overwritten reveals an element of vandalism in this process. 300px Abu Simbel: an official portrait sculpture ritually effaced Recent cases of vandalism in this vein include the toppling and destruction of Soviet monuments after the fall of the Soviet Union, the TalibanThe Taliban ( Pashtun: "students of Islam"), also transliterated as Taleban is an Islamist movement which ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001, despite having diplomatic recognition from only three countries (the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, destruction of Buddhist statuaryThe Buddhas of Bamiyan were two monumental statues of standing Buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamiyan valley of central Afghanistan, situated 230 km northwest of Kabul at an altitude of 2500 meters. Most likely built in the fifth or sixth in AfghanistanAfghanistan ( Dari/ Pashtu: Afgnistn is a country in Central Asia. It is bordered by Iran in the west, Pakistan in the south and east, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the easternmost part of the country. It is among the, and the of a Saddam HusseinSaddm Hussein 'Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti Hussein also spelled Husayn and Hussain Arabic: ; born April 28, 1937 1) was President of Iraq from 1979 to 2003. A rising star in the revolutionary Ba'ath Party, which espoused secular Arab nationalism, economic mod statue by the multinational force in IraqThe multi-national force in Iraq invaded the country in March 2003 (see 2003 invasion of Iraq). After a quick military victory (attributed by some to " shock and awe") the Coalition primarily an initiative of the United States with major support from the. In a country with an unpopular dictatorThe term dictator in the modern sense, is a vaguely-defined, connotatively negative word used to describe a totalitarian or authoritarian, or merely autocratic ruler of a country, and the leader of a dictatorship. The term is frequently associated with br, vandalism of the leader's portraitVincent Van Gogh A portrait is a painting, photograph, or other artistic representation of a person. Portraits are often simple "head shots" and are not usually overly elaborate or creative. The intent is to show the basic appearance of the person, and ocs and other elements of his personality cult can be a common form of dissent.

More generally, vandalism (uncapitalised) is willful wanton and malicious destruction of the property of others or the commons. The term is usually generalized to include non-destructive but unauthorized modification of property, that is, defacement ; for example, graffiti. Vandalism is often committed by alienated youth.

With the rise and development of the World Wide Web came unauthorized and undesired modification of webpages through cracking, another form of vandalism.

Some vandalism qualifies as culture jamming or sniggling — artistic statements in their own right that are illegal and destructive from the point of view of the legal system, but are done with a creative and artistic impulse. Graffiti art qualifies in some cases at least, also billboard liberation and crop circles. The situationist Asger Jorn founded the Scandinavian Institute of Comparative Vandalism.