Poopy Picassos vandalize elementary school

COEUR d'ALENE — A stinky situation greeted the custodian at Atlas Elementary School in Coeur d'Alene last week.

"He observed a brown substance, later identified as human feces, smeared on the outside of the east entry doors and on the touch pad for that door," a Kootenai County Sheriff's Office report states. "Nothing was broken, but the area had to be cleaned and sanitized."

The custodian, according to the report, reviewed surveillance footage and discovered the entire April 24 incident was captured on camera. A Kootenai County Sheriff's deputy arrived at the school the following day to assist school officials in determining the identity of the two poopy Picassos responsible for the mess.

"Both juveniles appeared to be between 14 and 16 years of age," the deputy wrote after detailing what each of the youths was wearing.

The deputy reported the footage shows the two juveniles entering a portable bathroom on the school's campus while carrying sticks.

"The juveniles exited the bathroom with the sticks and golf-ball-size pieces of human feces on the end of the sticks," the report states. "The juveniles then ran to the east entry, where they appeared to be wiping the feces on the door and the key pad. The juveniles run away, then return and appear to be taking pictures of the entry area with their phones."

On April 27, the deputy was informed school officials had determined the identity of the two youths. In his report, the deputy writes he contacted the parents of each child and obtained permission to speak with the kids about the incident.

Both youths, the deputy wrote, quickly confessed to being behind the vandalism, and each apologized. According to the report, school officials declined to pursue charges against the juveniles and "instead wanted to have the school discipline them."