MOUNTAINBURG (KFSM) -- Police are investigating after a school building is broken into and vandalized.
“We`re a small school,” Principal Jason Rutherford, Mountainburg High School, said. “We`re a family, so obviously, more than financial damage, a couple doors and a little bit of paint, you know we hate that someone did this.”
Police said the storage building at Mountainburg High School was broken into overnight Tuesday (Feb. 9). There’s evidence the door was either kicked in, pried open or a combination of the two, but no items appear to have been taken from the inside, said Police Chief Vincent Clamser. The building is used to store sports equipment.
“It’s fortunate nothing was stolen, but it's gonna cost money to repair this building that the school could spend on something else,” he said.
Chief Clamser said the school notified his department just before 7 a.m. Wednesday (Feb. 10). Officers collected fingerprints, CDs and other evidence in the area.
“We did also get some footprints,” Clamser said. “We got photographs of footwear, and it did look like two different types of footwear, but we're not for sure. They were fresh.”
Investigators said those responsible will face criminal mischief charges, and if the damage ends up being more than $500, it could be a felony.
Principal Rutherford said if the suspects end up being students at the school, they will be disciplined by the district as well.
“Typically something like this would be a suspension,” Rutherford said.
He said the school is going through surveillance footage to see if it picked up any suspicious activity from the incident. If you have any information, call Mountainburg Police at 479-769-0310.