verb

deface

dih-FAYS/dɪˈfeɪs/

To spoil the appearance of something by marking or damaging its surface.

The man defaces the decorated planter with a thick black scrawl.

A middle-aged Latino man draws a thick, irregular black scrawl across the floral decoration of an otherwise pristine ceramic planter, visibly spoiling its appearance.

Etymology

The “face” here is an object's appearance or surface. Combined with the sense “away,” it underlies obliterating writing or disfiguring a surface, which developed into the milder meaning of making something ugly.

In context

TEDxNU6:27

they would deface every billboard with this spray paint and they would change the message that smoking companies were producing

Loretta O'Donnell, Vice-Provost for Academic Affairs at Nazarbayev University

More examples

Please do not deface library books by writing in them.
Someone has defaced the statue with red paint.
Scratching your initials into the table defaces its polished surface.

Forms

deface · defaces · defaced · defacing

defacement noun — Damage or marking that spoils something's appearance.

Similar words

mar: Means to spoil appearance or quality, not necessarily through surface damage.
disfigure: Often suggests more severe damage to appearance, including altered shape.