DENNYSVILLE – “They are devastated,” was how one school official described the pupils at Edmunds Consolidated School, who discovered Friday morning that their class trip funds had been stolen.

Around 7 a.m., teacher Charlie Fitzsimmons and his pupils entered their classroom to find that a window had been broken and a locked cabinet that contained their class trip funds had been pried open.

Gone was nearly $1,200. The theft left the 33 fifth- to eighth-grade pupils asking themselves why someone would steal their money.

Principal Deborah Wood said Friday that the youngsters were very upset. “What they’ve been saying to me and their teachers all day today is, ‘We worked so hard to earn that money,'” she said. She said the pupils held food sales and raffles to earn money. In addition, they worked on a toy auction and participated in the Winter Cabin Fever Festival. “They worked on [the carnival], and they earned money, because there was a small fee for people to attend and the kids manned the table and helped with the cleanup,” she said.

Although the funds had been earmarked for the class trip, a portion of the money also was to be used for graduation.

“What is so devastating to these kids is … they were so proud of what they had earned,” she said. The class trip was scheduled for May. The location had not yet been made final.

Sgt. Lester Seeley of the Washington County Sheriff’s Department was called to investigate. Seeley said that when he arrived, he found that a rear window of the school had been broken. He said although there were footprints in the vicinity, they were difficult to identify because they had been covered over by the snow that fell during the night.

Seeley speculated that the perpetrator was someone who knew where the money was kept or had spoken to someone who knew. He said he and Sgt. Michael Riggs were following up on several leads.

Asked if people could make a donation for the class trip, Wood said that would be wonderful, but she also hoped to see the perpetrator apprehended.

Anyone who wishes to help replenish the class trip fund can send a donation to Wood at the Edmunds Consolidated School, 1 Harrison Road, Dennysville 04628.