Three young men have been charged with vandalizing the Nikiski Middle-High School.

Anthony Ming, 21, Roy Bellamy, 19 and Karl Buchholz, 19, all of Nikiski, were arrested Tuesday, and each were charged with five counts of third degree criminal mischief, a class ‘C' felony.

On Sept. 14, Alaska State Troopers responded to a call and found the school vandalized. Numerous areas of the main building, three buses and a privately-owned vehicle had been spray painted.

Staff and students worked together, spending the day cleaning up the mess. Students were willing to do what they could to clean the school, Principal Dan Carstens said in a statement.

"Students concerned with what happened at their school pulled together and worked outside cleaning up the building and taking ownership of our cleanup process," he said.

Troopers estimated the total repair and cleanup cost at more than $6,000. According to court records, costs to clean and repair the building exceeded $500, damage to the private vehicle exceeded $500 and cleanup and repair of the Kenai Peninsula Borough buses exceeded $500 each.

Using surveillance video from the school, Troopers identified three individuals. Following an investigation, Ming, Bellamy and Buchholz allegedly admitted to spray painting the school property on the night of Sept. 14 during an interview.

Class ‘C' felonies are punishable by up to five years in prison and fines reaching $50,000, according to the Alaska Legal Resource Center.

Bail is set at $1,000 each. The preliminary hearings are set for Oct. 3.