At such a visited site as Skara Brae there may not be that many workable alternatives to having CCTV (if we want to try and deter vandalism that is). Cameras don’t need to be plonked in the middle of a site, they can be positioned some way off, or even hidden. All that’s then needed is a sign saying ‘CCTV cameras operate in this area’.

It might not be fool proof but it’s better than nothing – in fact, if there’d been one monitoring the lovely reconstructed Iron Age roundhouse at Barbury Castle it might not have been razed to the ground a few years ago. And if there'd been one at Rollright it might have deterred paint being plastered all over the stones.

Ditto many other sites that have and are being effed up - as we all know only too well...