The Berne-Knox-Westerlo Secondary School was closed Wednesday due to what may have been meant as a joke but turned into something much more serious. Erin Connolly has the details.

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BERNE, N.Y. -- Oil leaking from the walls. Floors stained yellow. Soaked carpets. This was some of the damage at Berne-Knox-Westerlo Secondary School, the result of a prank.

"It was devastating to see," said Interim Superintendent Kimberly LaBelle. "We've never had anything like this happen in the school before."

All hands were on deck Wednesday morning, cleaning and scrubbing away the remnants of a mix of motor and vegetable oil. The mess was so bad that school was closed for the day.

LaBelle said, "They got kitty litter and they also had gravel and a little bit of sand. That's typical procedure to putting on it to soak up most of that oil."

Lockers and windows were graffitied with the word "SENIORS." The students got inside the school sometime overnight, but there was no sign of forced entry.

"It's still too early to tell," said LaBelle. "We don't know exactly how they got in. Window, door, key of some sort. We don't know at this point."

State Police were on the scene, taking pictures and looking at the school's indoor and outdoor surveillance video. They said those who did this damage are looking at criminal charges.

State Police Investigator Richard Anguish said, "This one is serious in the fact that property was damaged. This is not a joke. We're looking at the possibility of burglary and criminal mischief charges."

And school officials agree, there needs to be punishment for this so-called prank gone too far.

"Hopefully we'll be able to find the kids, and we take it very seriously," said LaBelle. "It's not going to be tolerated in the district."

The school plans to reopen Thursday. Anyone with information on who may have caused the damaged is asked to call State Police.