MACHIAS – Vandalism grounded the town’s fleet of school buses Thursday morning, leading police to seek assistance from anyone who could help them learn who was involved.

Frank Vaughan, the transportation and maintenance director for the Machias school system, said he arrived at the Machias campus to find that someone had cut the valve stems on 11 tires, disabling all six of the Machias school buses.

“Someone used a cutting device – a very large wire or bolt cutter – and cut the valve stems,” Vaughan said.

Machias School Superintendent Betty Jordan said the buses were parked in their usual place beside the gymnasium at Machias Memorial High School.

Jordan said Vaughan alerted her at 7 a.m. Rather than cancel school, Jordan said, she called a number of school board members and asked area radio stations to announce the problem and suggest that parents drive their children to school.

“Buses from the other towns had already started to roll, and it was a beautiful day,” Jordan said Thursday. “Machias isn’t very large, and some of our students walk to school.”

Both Machias Memorial High School and Rose M. Gaffney Elementary School reported average attendance, the superintendent said.

Guptill’s Logging Supplies in Machias began pulling the tires from their rims and replacing the valve stems Thursday morning. By midafternoon, the buses were ready to take students home, Jordan said.

Acting Machias Police Chief Stephen Ramsay said the valve stems on the school buses are made of brass and that whoever did the damage cut the stems off the front tires on each of the buses. Some rear tires also were damaged.

Ramsay said Machias patrolmen periodically swing through the school grounds during the night, but the buses are parked in a dimly lit area at the back of the campus.

“We had no calls of any suspicious activity in the area, but someone may have noticed something,” he said. “We’ll take any leads that people can give us. This was a great inconvenience to parents.”

Jordan said the school system will take measures to prevent a repeat of the incident and will be working with the Police Department to make sure the buses are secure.