I agree with faaus, the instant I looked at it I thought 'an old bell toll'; perhaps to alert the people of the house that visitors had arrived. Very neat.

The image just gives me the shivers, I don't know why. Even though they're painted they look truly sinister.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that respect to the people needs to be given, it's repect for the building, the piece of our history that's being defaced.
Sure, it's abandoned, it's falling apart, and no one but the state or the property owners claim it; but then again, so are all of those castles in Europe, and not a damn person takes a can of paint to them.
Tagging is for the ignorant and the uneducated halfwits who think it's fun destroy things; no more, no less.