Look carefully at these pictures.
They are not from the Illawarra Mercury archive.
They were all taken within the past two weeks in response to reports of fresh malicious damage up and down the South Coast.
Mindless destruction of public and private property was repeated every single day during our Halt the Hoons campaign, and no suburb was immune.
From graffiti in Austinmer to a paint-splashed Mercedes in North Wollongong; from a window smashed in Port Kembla to rubbish dumped on the side of the road in Dapto.
Family turns Warilla home into a fortress
Berkeley hoons cover house in beans: woman fights back
Illawarra brawls posted on YouTubeOnline readers flooded the Mercury website, outraged at continuing anti-social behaviour.
"They are weak parasites in our community," wrote Losers.
"We now have a generation of young people who know all about their rights and nothing about their responsibilities," posted Ted.
"Where are the parents in all this?" asked Observer.
"Berkeley suffers a bad press, thanks to a minute majority who have no regard for anyone else or their property," said Fergie.
Meantime, ratepayers are forking out for an ever-increasing bill to clean up the mess.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent each year by Wollongong and Shellharbour councils in attempts to combat and prevent malicious damage.
One solution is allowing young people to be involved in public artworks.
Joshua Wiffen works for both councils, engaging young people and community groups in legal aerosol art murals which have been successful in deterring vandals.
Once a mural had been painted on a wall previously known for graffiti attacks, he said, taggers stayed away.
Mr Wiffen said there were various reasons who young people became involved in vandalism.
''A lot of people are just interested in being an artist and being creative ... but don't have the skills to organise legal walls,'' he said.
''Some do it for the thrill of it they get an adrenalin rush.''
Malicious damage was also caused by drunks walking home taking advantage of the opportunity to pull out a sign or smash something.
He said his legal spray paint projects could turn offenders around.
''I tell them they can go down the negative side of things or they can potentially turn (painting) into a career.''
Some of Mr Wiffen's former students have gone on to work as sign writers, graphic designers and commercial artists.
The solution was a balanced approach, he said, involving policing, graffiti removal and legal opportunities for young people to express themselves creatively.
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