 These provisions are similar to those set out in section 5 of the Theft Act 1968 in relation to theft . It is clearly a right of property ownership to deal with property as one wishes , including its damage or destruction . However a person setting fire to his own house which is subject to a mortgage can be charged because the mortgagee will have a proprietary right or interest in the property . Property that is abandoned has no owner , and cannot be stolen ; it follows that such property cannot be the subject of a charge of criminal damage . 
