Keller @ Large: Don't Mess With The Big Blue Bug

BOSTON (CBS) - There's a special place down below waiting for vandals, especially the punks who thought it was a good idea to deface a beloved New England landmark over the weekend.

If you've ever driven through Providence on I-95, you have surely admired the 58-foot blue termite overlooking the highway from the roof of a local extermination company. The replica has a nickname – Nibbles Woodaway, get it? – and has never been vandalized over its four-decades keeping an eye on the traffic.

For those lucky enough to live in Providence, one of my favorite cities, Nibbles has long been a sign of home, a uniquely Rhode Island icon in his own way. If you have to ask why, you don't know Rhode Island, and it would take more space than I have here to explain it to you.

But sometime over the weekend, someone decided to smear their graffiti all over Nibbles. There has been a huge outcry, and based on what I know about Providencians, these clowns better hope the cops catch them first.

Surely they didn't understand that there are some things you just don't vandalize: iconic commercial landmarks like Nibbles, or the wall at Fenway Park; has anyone ever tried to tag the Green Monster?...sacred sites, like churches, cemeteries, or memorial statues…all public and private property.

I guess that covers everything, doesn't it?

And I know you're wondering – Jon, where will these poor, misunderstood little darlings go to express themselves artistically?

I'm sure there are plenty of places where their talents would be welcome – New York City maybe?

But my fatherly advice is, stay away from Nibbles the giant termite.

For this kind of thing, Providence is a two-strikes-and-you're-out kind of town.