An 18-year-old suspected of spray painting graffiti on freeway walls, houses and businesses in the valley over a period of at least four years was arrested last week. Las Vegas police booked Corey Deleon into the Clark County Detention Center on nine charges of "placing graffiti or defacing property."

"This was not just 'Johnny loves Suzie' written on a park bench," explains Russell Davis, chairman of the Southern Nevada Graffiti Coalition, a group of local city and law enforcement officials. "He was part of an organized group."

Deleon even is suspected of "tagging" a building in Baker, Calif., near what is billed as the world's largest thermometer, Mr. Davis said. "He's what we consider 'all-city.' He's responsible for a lot -- a great deal of damage."

The investigation into Deleon stems from an August shooting at a local strip mall involving two rival graffiti gangs, according to Mr. Davis. One juvenile was shot in that incident, but no one was killed.

Deleon was not the triggerman but was present at the shooting, police said.

Deleon is being held on $200,000 in bail, and more charges might be pending, police said.

Good. Deleon is entitled to a presumption of innocence, of course -- only a court can determine if police have the right guy. But police estimate that graffiti vandalism causes millions of dollars in damage in the valley annually.

And that's only the kind of damage that can be quantified. By its very visibility, this crime declares that the rights of property ownership and good stewardship are being held in contempt. Rather than admiring public-spirited beautification by the owners of homes and businesses or those who engineer public facilities, the spray-painter declares his scorn for all these things, like a zoo animal coating his surroundings with hurled feces -- but without the excuse of incarceration.

"Artists" are expected to save their earnings to buy their own canvases, not to impose their tastes on unwilling victims. Is it any surprise that such brazen pathology eventually embroils its practitioners in more violent crimes? This is not some kid carving his initials in a tree. It's far past time for a mere slap on the wrist. The courts are right to treat such massive vandalism as a serious offense.

And if jail time is judged inappropriate, the culprits should be required to find steady work, remanding a sizable portion of their pay in restitution to their victims.