Two facts arise over the defacement of buildings in St. George's that was discovered on Monday morning.

One is that there are some extraordinarily selfish and presumably young people living in and around the old town. It should go without saying that the vandalism in St. George's will undo all of the hard work that hundreds of people have put into the town to make it a World Heritage Site.

And the efforts to make the town a viable cultural destination are also damaged by these actions and similar acts of vandalism and violence that have occurred all too often in the recent past. This is not simply an act of vandalism. It has the potential to hurt the livelihoods of every single person who works in the town, including, possibly, some of the friends and relatives of the person or persons who committed these acts.

St. George's is a national treasure and should be treated as such. It is akin to attacking your own grandmother, robbing her and leaving her in a ditch.

It should also be obvious that there are people in the area who know exactly who did this. Now is the time to be good citizens and to identify the culprits. The second fact that arises from this incident is that something is badly wrong with the deployment of Police in the community generally.

Few would deny that the Police have a challenging job or that they are currently undermanned. And they also deserve credit for the quick response to major incidents and the quick detection of those who have allegedly committed them.

The Police have also recognised the need for more community involvement and that is a policy that should receive support.

However, it should be a major concern when there are apparently only two officers on mobile patrol for all three eastern parishes, meaning that the Police could be miles away from an incident when it occurs.

It is also fair to assume that the same situation exists in the central parishes and the West End. The Police have an establishment of 440 officers. Many are required to fulfil jobs that prevent them from being on the beat, in part because the Bermuda police must perform functions that would be handled elsewhere by larger services or countries.

Still, it beggars belief that some officers who usually work behind the scenes or in support jobs could not be seconded to the regular Police divisions to ensure that the Police have a visible presence to deter or stop crime, especially during the Christmas season when criminal acts tend to increase.

This might prevent incidents like the one in St. George's from occurring and would do wonders for the morale of the Police and the general public alike.