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Vandals destroyed about $75,000 worth of computers and other school equipment Monday night at Brookland-Cayce High School.
They also broke windows and broke out the fronts of vending machines, said Lt. Jeff Simmons of the Cayce Department of Public Safety.
"In short, they trashed it," he said.
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Police are asking the public for help in the investigation. Those responsible could be charged with burglary and vandalism.
So far, investigators do not believe anything was stolen.
It was the second time this month that someone broke into the school, Simmons said. Minor damage was done during a Jan. 7 break-in. Police do not know whether the two incidents are connected, he said.
The vandals triggered an alarm at the school around 11 p.m. Monday, Simmons said. When police arrived, they did not find anyone.
"We got there pretty quick," Simmons said. "It's a pretty big school. Police could have entered on one side while they were leaving on the other."
School administrators arrived at the scene around midnight, and the school's custodial staff was called to sweep up glass in the middle of the night, said Jim Hinton, Lexington District 2's assistant superintendent for administration and student services.
Tuesday's classes were not interrupted by the vandalism, Hinton said. But it came at an especially busy time, as students began their first day of new classes for the second semester, he said.
The vandals broke 27 windows in offices and classrooms, Hinton said. They broke into offices used by the principal, assistant principals and guidance counselors.
The vandals used a fire extinguisher to break larger windows, and Hinton thought they had a tool to break smaller windows on the doors of offices and classrooms.
They turned over file cabinets and tossed papers onto the floor, Simmons said.
"They were basically having a heyday in there, making it rain," he said.
Computers in a lab also were damaged. The contents of a fire extinguisher were sprayed all over the school's media center, Hinton said.
"You can imagine all that dust and powder on computers."
While vending machine windows were broken, none of the snacks inside were missing, Hinton said. And, Apple computers were still in the labs, he said.
"We had things we just knew would be stolen, but they were all there," he said.
Investigators are reviewing video recorded by security cameras, Simmons said.
Anyone with information that could lead to an arrest should call Crime Stoppers at (888) 274-6373.
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