Probe Continues Into Roof Fire at Elementary School

A small portion of  the roof over the  library was set afire by five teens on Super Bowl Sunday afternoon, according to the Orange County's Sheriff's Department. 

Sheriff’s deputies and the Orange County Fire Authority were dispatched to the scene at 1:43 p.m. The teens who were believed to be responsible for the vandalism were released to their parents shortly after the incident. 

Crown Valley Elementary Principal Anthony Bogle said one of the teens is a former student; the others are students at Dana Hills High School and Niguel Hills Middle School.

"I think it sounds a lot worse than it was [the fire]," Bogle said. "A few of the tiles were damaged, the tar bubbled up." 

Marcus E. Walton, chief information officer for the , said the school doesn't have money to pay for damage due to vandalism.

"We take any kind of damage to school property seriously," Walton said. "Even if it is small, any damage to school property is too much, especially in this day and age when budgets are tight.

"We don't have extra funds to correct mistakes and fix damage." 

Walton said the students involved would be subject to disciplinary action.

"We will work with the sheriff's office and let the criminal justice system take the  proper action," Walton said. "We want all students to know of the severity of this act."

The roof fire is not the first time the school has been vandalized. Bogle said a laptop computer was stolen over the summer when vandals broke a window to the teacher's lounge. The room was "trashed," he said. 

The laptop was never recovered and the suspects were not found, he said.

"It was my feeling that it was a group of teenagers on campus that broke a window and found an open door ... a crime of opportunity," Bogle said.

The investigation into Sunday's incident is ongoing, officials said.