How to deal with minor cubicle vandalism

Question

Vandalism is a strong word, but I cannot think of a better one.

I work in an office of approximately 100 engineers, where a majority of which come from one of two prominent universities. These universities are considered "rivals" and there is often light-hearted banter on the subject generally all around. I have a large magnet representing my alma-matter's logo on the outside of my cubicle facing a frequently used walkway. Almost every morning for the past three months (since I've had this cubicle), the magnet has been moved to the opposite side of my cube wall. Several times, the logo of the other university has been taped up in its place. The first time it happened, me and my nearby coworkers laughed about it, now its getting a bit less amusing. I have no idea who does this.

This is not a big deal. I don't really care, but it is slightly frustrating that it happens with such regularity and anonymity. If someone wants me to limit the scope of my university pride, I will happily do so, but I need to be explicitly told this. This is really a minor annoyance and distraction, not worthy of management attention.

How do I get a minor annoyance to stop without blowing things out of proportion (ie going to management or having a witch-hunt)?

Some actions I've considered:

1. Asking everybody: Makes me look paranoid, overly sensitive, and just takes a lot of time
2. Putting up a sign: Makes me look paranoid, overly sensitive, AND passive-aggressive
3. Talking to a supervisor: Makes me look overly sensitive and wastes his time
4. Getting other coworker to covertly investigate: Avoids making me look bad (potentially), but distracts other people from their jobs

Answer 1

To some people the outside of your cubical facing a frequently used walkway is public space.
If you just leave it inside where the 'vandal' is putting it, that should probably end the problem.

Answer 2

Some might argue (and I believe they have a point), that you are the perpetrator, not the victim. When you put your magnet "on the outside of my cubicle facing a frequently used walkway", it could come across as you shoving your university in their face.

When someone has something in their cubicle that is potentially annoying, that is my problem to deal with when I visit their cubicle. When that same thing is outside their cubicle, especially in frequently used space, that is their problem. We should respect everyone's feelings in this common space.

If something personal you place outside your cubicle seems to be bothering your co-workers, you should probably bring it back into your cubicle so they aren't motivated to remove it themselves.

Answer 3

Just take it off the outside of the cubicle, don't act childishly and be professional about your work and your workspace. You're not there to play games (I assume).

Answer 4

The answer is to either let it go, or to put up a sign/message underneath the magnet so only the perpetrator will see it, which avoids all of the concerns you raised regarding the sign.

The message could be something like: "If you see this message someone removed the item covering it, which isn't a nice thing to do. If you're bothered by the item and would like me to remove the item myself, do what any respectful and mature person would do and talk to me."

Answer 5

This is an interesting question. Occasional lighthearted pranks often build camraderie. In the past, I have seen pranks like co-op students filling the cubicle of the beloved IT guy with balloons (8' X 10' X 6' high). The IT guy was touched, and we all had a good laugh. But I have also seen pranks like pulling out USB cables from computers, removing mouse batteries, and the like, which have no value in building camraderie but annoy the victim as he searches to fix the problem. And I have seen people repeat the same prank over and over, which is also disruptive without building camraderie.

If a prank is done once, recovery is swift, then it can build camraderie. If it happens often, and looks more like sabotage than building camraderie, your co-workers have problems respecting personal boundaries, and that must end.

Describe the prank to your manager, describe how much work it took to fix, tell her how you feel about it, and wait for her reaction. If she responds in a way which is good for you and not unreasonable for the pranksters you have done well. If not, you need to think deeply if you want to work in a place where there is little respect for personal boundaries and no opposition from management.

Answer 6

I have a few ideas.

Follow @paparazzi's advice (move the magnet inside your cubicle).

Round up some fellow alumni to join in and put magnets on the outsides of their cubicles.

Try to acquire magnets from all the universities in the group and put them all on the outside of your cubicle.

Tape the magnet to your cubicle. Or otherwise secure it. If you're putting it on the metal edge of your cubicle wall, run twine or string over it and secure with pushpins. Or, you're an engineer--think up some fun solution!