Cash-strapped Dundee City Council has had to spend more than £1 million to repair vandalised property in the last six years.
Since April 2013, £1.1 million has been spent repairing everything from play equipment to school property and graffiti-clad buildings.
The £180,000 average annual bill is equal to the cost of fixing three and a half thousand potholes, or providing school uniforms for almost 2000 pupils.
Every year, a large chunk of the repair bill is spent fixing smashed bus shelters.
Last year, more than £20,000 was spent on repairing glass panels on dozens of bus stops with the stop on Forfar Road at Claverhouse Road fixed four times in just eight months.
An average of 300 incidents take place in schools every year with Dundee in the past facing one of the highest bills of any council area in Scotland.
Some high profile incidents in the last year include vandals spray painting the outer wall of Dundee’s ancient Howff graveyard in October.
Vandals also sparked school traffic chaos at the new North East Campus in Whitfield in November after damaging a car park barrier.
In the summer, youths deliberately set fire to grass and play equipment at Fintry’s vandalism hot-spot Powrie Park.
There have also been a number of bus shelters vandalised in areas such as Broughty Ferry, Douglas, Fintry and Lochee.
In nearby Angus, 12th century Arbroath Abbey was badly damaged in July when youths spray painted the historic monument.
North East region Scottish Conservative MSP Bill Bowman said the “wasted” cash could be better spent elsewhere.
He said: “Every time a thoughtless individual defaces public property, it breaks the law and takes money away from where it’s needed.
“For example, some of Dundee’s roads are in a real state of deterioration.
“This wasted money could have been used to shore up the local authority’s shrinking finances.”
A spokesperson for Dundee City Council said: “We take the issue of vandalism across the city very seriously.
“A partnership between the council and Police Scotland supports anti-vandalism education efforts with young people.”
“The council works hard to apply risk management measures to reduce the impact and cost of vandalism.”
