[Those robots] would be the physical equivalent of open source software which also "belongs" to no one.
Open source software
does belong to someone. Copyright law has teeth here,
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1390172&rll=1 and without that protection there would be no copyleft,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyleft(Sorry to rant but IMHO "freedom" requires knowledge of & respect for the relevant laws.

)
The more BTC stored inside the robot, the smaller the chance of vandalism.
ISTR studies support this. Nice, shiny cars parked in rough areas are less likely to be vandalised; possibly because people appreciate the cars' beauty. Sorry I forget the references here.
Destroying a "wealthy" robot for fun would be the equivalent of you finding a safe on the street that you know has $100,000 inside it, and then dumping that safe in the ocean, just for fun.
If the safe is not beautiful, then "sour grapes" may take over.
