Yes, police sometimes damage or destroy personal property in the execution of a search warrant. They can't just cause destruction for the fun of it. It has to be reasonably related to the search. Are they looking for drugs that could be hidden in furniture? Then they could tear into the furniture. Are they looking for a stolen motorcycle? That won't fit into a couch.

It seems counter-intuitive to perform a search like that since you'd be contaminating a bunch of stuff potentially destroying evidence.

They won't destroy the evidence they need. If it's a murder scene, for example, they'll take pictures and document everything. If they are looking for documents related to fraud, then something like fingerprints in the house aren't useful.