Dealing with graffiti is a tough problem. Local authorities spend a fortune getting rid of the stuff, and even then, it's pretty hard to get private property owners to remove it. After all, it can be expensive - and they're the victims of crime. Not the perpetrators.

And besides, sometimes people have some sympathy for the graffiti 'artist.' For example, Local blogger 'Suitably Despairing' catalogues the exploits of the 'ethical graffiti' artist who took to commenting on bill boards posted around Leith and North Edinburgh.  In Bristol, home of Banksy, they're proposing to involve local residents in deciding whether graffiti is street art or vandalism. In Glasgow, they've been paying local graffiti artists to do official murals, like the one below, to cover up the unofficial ones - as this is cheaper than removing it again and again from the same places.

Many people will recognise the graffiti in the photo at the top of this post from Leith Walk, and it's clearly caught a lot of people's attention as there's loads of photos of it, and graffiti like it, on photo-sharing website Flickr.com.

However, at the end of the day, there's a lot of graffiti that falls into the category of mindless petty vandalism, and one persons art, can easily be regarded by others as a scary indication of high crime rates. So, we think it's certainly good news to hear that the City of Edinburgh Council have confirmed that they're going to do a thorough clean-up of Leith Walk. It needs it - and we hope they'll deal with all the flyposting on the empty shops too.