The damage toll from the current rash of vandalism continues to mount in and around Butler. Authorities acknowledge that the amount of damage reported to date is well into the thousands of dollars.

But the situation has been increasingly taking an even more ugly turn, with moving vehicles now more frequently becoming the target of rocks and other objects. Fortunately, no serious injuries — or nothing worse than that — has resulted.

At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Brian Swope of Saxonburg fortunately escaped injury when a rock smashed the windshield of his pickup truck as he was driving at Bullcreek and Patterson roads.

At 9:45 p.m. Saturday, Tina Shearer of Great Belt Road was backing out of her driveway when her car's rear window was struck by a rock apparently thrown from a vehicle driving by.

At 9:45 p.m. March 11, the 2005-model car of Jeffrey Held of Prospect was damaged by a box of cookies thrown from an unidentified passing vehicle as Held was driving in Jefferson Township.

Fortunately, Shearer and Held also were not injured.

But it would be tragic if such an incident were to trigger an accident resulting in serious injury or death. The vandals in question obviously haven't pondered the ramifications of such a scenario — possibly felony charges and a significant amount of incarceration. Or, possibly, they harbor the notion that there is little chance they will be caught.

Meanwhile, in the city, tension is mounting, especially in the Island neighborhood, where orange-colored $1,000 reward signs have been posted as a result of vandalism on Negley Avenue.

That is only part of the reward money that has been pledged for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the damage that neighborhood has incurred.

It is important that area police departments make known their incidents to the news media so that information can be reported. People living in affected neighborhoods have a right to know what is happening around them so they can take appropriate precautions.

At the same time, police pressure must be stepped up in terms of questioning people who might have even tidbits of knowledge or suspicion about who might be responsible for the growing list of crimes.

It's troubling that this vandalism has been ongoing since at least December without any arrests having been made. As each week passes, it seems less likely that the problem is going to go away, unless the vandals are apprehended.

The targeting of moving vehicles adds a new urgency for stepped-up police activity and, hopefully, arrests. The likelihood is that somebody besides the vandals knows the identity of those responsible. Those persons' failure to reveal information or suspicions to authorities can itself be regarded as an act of irresponsibility — especially when the current potential for people's lives being in danger is factored in.

Police even would appreciate information provided anonymously to help them get on the right track toward making an arrest. That applies not only to municipal police departments, but also to the state police.

The state police have indicated that they believe at least some of the vandals might be students in the South Butler School District. Likewise, young people might also be the culprits in the city.

That means parents should be talking with their sons and daughters about what is occurring, as well as about the potential ramifications for the vandals and their families stemming from such incidents.

Meanwhile, it is to be hoped that when the vandals are apprehended — and most likely they will be — the courts will not be lenient, both in terms of punishment and restitution.

The vandals have caused financial distress for their victims, and those financial issues must not be forgotten when the penalties are meted out.

Butler County and the City of Butler pride themselves on being decent places to live. But people like the vandals in question — and law enforcement officers' inability to catch them — can cause people to have doubts about that positive character.

Someone needs to assure people of the city and affected areas elsewhere in the county that all is being done on their behalf in regard to this criminal activity. Such a message already is overdue.

It should not take a death to trigger the kind of intense investigation that already should be under way.