Criminal law in Australia is a large and complex area of law, with many differences between the various Commonwealth and state jurisdictions. For present purposes, it need only be explained that there are various criminal offences involving property and some of these have the effect of safeguarding private property rights. The most obvious example is the crime of theft. While it is in the interest of the community generally to prohibit the unlawful taking of another's property, the holder of private property rights also benefits from this law. If one person believes that another has stolen their property, they can report the matter to the police for investigation and prosecution and, if it is recovered, they may have the property returned to them.
There are many other specific crimes involving property, too numerous to mention here. In addition to theft, another example of a property-related is recklessly damaging property belonging to another person, which is relevant in the present case.
Offences involving damage to property include arson (damage by fire); defacing property (by marking or writing on the property) or posting bills (for example, putting up promotional posters); tampering with a motor vehicle (for example by interfering with a door lock or a car aerial); and making threats to damage or destroy property.