1663, "willful destroyer of what is beautiful or venerable," from
Vandals, name of Gmc. tribe that sacked Rome, 455, under Genseric, from L.
Vandalus (pl.
Vandali), from the tribe's name for itself (O.E.
Wendlas), from P.Gmc.
*Wandal- "Wanderer."
"There does not seem to be in the story of the capture of Rome by the Vandals any justification for the charge of willful and objectless destruction of public buildings which is implied in the word 'vandalism.' It is probable that this charge grew out of the fierce persecution which was carried on by [the Vandal king] Gaiseric and his son against the Catholic Christians, and which is the darkest stain on their characters." ["Encyclopedia Britannica," 13th ed., 1926]
Vandalism is attested from 1798, from Fr.
vandalisme, first used by Henri Grégoire, Bishop of Blois, c.1793. The verb
vandalize is first recorded 1845.
[van-dl] 
) a member of a Germanic people who in the 5th century a.d. ravaged Gaul and Spain, settled in Africa, and in a.d. 455 sacked Rome.