Officers said there had been an increase in buildings being daubed across Loughborough.

They are now studying CCTV footage in a bid to catch the culprits and are warning they will be taken to court.

Crime reduction officer Pc Ashley Russell said: " It is nothing less than criminal damage and can cost a lot of money to repair the damage."

He added: "We are not talking about 'street art'.

"This is outright criminal damage and we will therefore be deploying every tactic to bring those to justice, including the use of CCTV."