CALEDONIA, Ohio - It was meant as a senior prank, one last-ditch jab at classes and homework before they graduated and left high school behind for the real world. But the mischief could end in criminal charges. At least two students from River Valley High School in Marion County are under investigation after faculty members and students arrived on campus yesterday to find 25 trees chopped off at their bases.

CALEDONIA, Ohio � It was meant as a senior prank, one last-ditch jab at classes and homework before they graduated and left high school behind for the real world. But the mischief could end in criminal charges.

At least two students from River Valley High School in Marion County are under investigation after faculty members and students arrived on campus yesterday to find 25 trees chopped off at their bases.

Students at the school said the trees were cut as part of the Class of 2014�s senior prank, but administrators took issue with that description.

�I don�t look at cutting trees down as a prank,� said Principal Dave Coleman. �I view it as an act of vandalism.�

The Marion County sheriff�s office interviewed two male students whose images were caught on security cameras at the school. The two are reportedly seniors at the school.

No charges have been filed, but Maj. Aaron Corwin of the sheriff�s office said he expected charges to come today.

Students said some of the trees that were cut down had been planted in memory of people associated with the school, but Coleman said he had not determined if that is true. About 500 students attend River Valley High School in Caledonia, about 50 miles north of Columbus.

Graduating seniors in years past have pulled pranks, Coleman said, but those typically were harmless. The Class of 2013, for example, plugged bathroom sinks, filled them and dropped live goldfish into the water.

Some students at the high school yesterday thought cutting the trees was hilarious. Others were angry.

�Either you are really excited or you hate it,� said senior Moira Vaughn. �I�m obviously not promoting vandalism, but I�m glad that our class is going to go down and be memorable.�

Coleman said senior classes often feel they have to leave their mark on the school before they depart, but this class did that all year with a

playoff football team, state-renowned music program and many academic achievements.

�They did not need a senseless act of vandalism to make a name for themselves,� he said.

The Class of 2015 already is talking about making it right.

�I think the juniors are planning on replanting them as a senior prank for next year,� said sophomore Brittani VanVoorhis. �I think it�s a good idea. I think we should do it this year, not next.�

Dispatch Sports Editor Ray Stein contributed to this story.

larenschield@dispatch.com

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