Five French citizens arrested at the Bexar County Courthouse early Wednesday were partiers, not terrorists, local and federal investigators concluded after questioning the men and searching their vehicle.

All five now face burglary charges. They were caught after a silent alarm alerted authorities at about 1 a.m. that someone was using one of the historic building's fire escapes.

After entering through a window on the fourth floor, two intruders were seen on surveillance video swiping an oversized ceremonial gavel from a judge's bench and later donning sombreros found in a Bar Association storage closet.

As they wandered the halls for about 30 minutes, police and sheriff's deputies surrounded the building, Sheriff Amadeo Ortiz said.

They were arrested as they left the courthouse. Two others were taken into custody outside, and the fifth was arrested at the group's rented recreational vehicle, which was parked nearby.

The suspects' names hadn't officially been released late Wednesday.

“We found a bottle of cold beer up in the courtroom, so we know they had been having a partying time,” Ortiz said. “It's very likely these individuals were just intoxicated. They may have not even known what this building was.”

Earlier in the day, officials weren't so sure.

Officials had stated that the men, all in their mid-20s, were from Morocco but corrected themselves later in the day, saying they had French driver's licenses and passports. The French Consulate in Dallas has been notified of the incident, they said.

The group had been in the United States since Sept. 10 on 90-day tourist visas, visiting New York, Miami and traveling across the country in the RV.

“It's just so very strange,” County Judge Nelson Wolff had told reporters as the men still were being questioned with the help of an interpreter. “It's either some guys on a prank of some sort, or it could be terrorists.”

Authorities found photos in the RV of various landmarks, including courthouses and dams, federal sources said, but cautioned that they might be tourist materials.

The men were cooperative, consenting to a search of the vehicle, a source close to the investigation said.

Ortiz, the FBI and Homeland Security Department officials refuted news reports that at least two of them were on federal watch lists.

“They were clowning around in the courtroom,” Ortiz said, adding that sheriff's investigators could find no apparent terror or political motive for breaking in. Federal law enforcement sources agreed, although they said their investigation remained open.

Given their foreign status and the oddity of the situation, every possible motive had to be investigated, Ortiz said.

“Why would a bunch of tourists choose a courthouse to break into? That is the part that's very hard to reconcile,” First Assistant District Attorney Cliff Herberg said. “So we're not taking anything for granted on them and we're going to be seeking a high bond.”

Sources said the men had been drinking at Coyote Ugly, a downtown bar, before they arrived at the courthouse. At Coyote Ugly, witnesses described them as having a raucous time.

“They kept ordering beer. They didn't even know what kind, just beer,” said one bartender who asked not to be identified.

Another said the men went out onto Commerce Street and snapped pictures of each other, halting traffic.

Four of them started their trip in the New York area, officials said. They paid for the RV rental with a credit card and cash, a $10,000 booking, a spokesman for the rental company said.

“There was nothing suspicious about them,” said the spokesman, Daniel Schneider. “They were just normal guys.”

A fifth man flew into Miami before joining the others, authorities said.

Facebook profile pictures that match the names of the five suspects depict energetic, goofy men wearing trendy sunglasses, T-shirts, sneakers and baseball caps. On one suspect's page, an album titled “11 septembre 2011” stated it was taken in New York and displayed 10 snapshots of four of the men in tourist locales — posing with a masked Spider-Man in Times Square, laughing in Central Park and riding a ferry.

Inside the courthouse, lawyers, county employees and those waiting for hearings could be overheard making nervous jokes Wednesday morning about terror plots.

All judges were invited to a special meeting at noon in which the danger was downplayed. Bomb-sniffing dogs from at least three agencies already had scanned the area, said state District Judge Victor Negrón, whose gavel had been grabbed.

The memento — still wrapped in a red, white and blue ribbon from when it was given to Negrón at his swearing-in ceremony — was dusted for fingerprints and returned to him later in the day. The men likely saw it as a potential trophy of their prank, Negrón said, laughingly referring to it by a new nickname: “the Moroccan hammer.”

The response to the break-in was reassuring, Negron added.

“It's a good test of how they would work had this really been something insidious instead of just a prank,” he said.

Staff Writer Eva Ruth Moravec contributed to this report.