GREENVILLE – As Forest Heritage Days wound down last Saturday night, someone managed to sneak into the high school to stage an event of their own.

A maintenance supervisor for the Greenville schools discovered Monday that vandals had broken a window at the high school, taken some money and food, and made a mess in certain areas of the building.

The kitchen area of the school was open during the annual event, but police believe the vandalism was conducted sometime after the activities ended Saturday night.

The supervisor who discovered the vandalism reported that a roll of construction paper had been unfurled on a hallway floor, according to Greenville Police Chief Duane Alexander. Upon further inspection, the supervisor noticed that the kitchen had been left unlocked. There, “multiple” packages of string cheese had been taken, a carton of milk had been consumed, and a 10-pound tube of hamburger valued at $35 had been removed from a refrigerator and tossed onto a counter, Alexander said. In addition, about $100 had been taken from a shelf.

During his investigation, Alexander said he found that the vandals left a message on a table in the teacher’s lounge using syrup taken from a refrigerator in the room. Also, boxes of art supplies in a storage room had been opened and scattered about.

In the basement, Alexander found a broken window in the home economics room and a bag containing the money believed to be have been taken from the kitchen. A note was attached to the bag, but the police chief declined to release its contents.

From his investigation and based on where the bag of money was discovered, Alexander believes that once outside the school, the person or people involved became fearful they would get caught or an accomplice would tell police. He thinks the vandals broke the window and then tossed the bag of money inside before they left the school grounds.

Footprints and fingerprints left at the scene have been seized as evidence as well as a DNA sample that was taken from the milk carton, according to Alexander. Anyone with information about the vandalism is encouraged to call Alexander at 695-3835.