The vandalism caused more than $100,000 in damages and Coffs Clarence Crime Manager Detective Inspector Darren Jameson said the girls – aged 13, 14 and 15 – were taken into custody after three search warrants were executed.

Two houses in Bellingen were searched and one in Camden (south west Sydney).

Police will allege in court that one of the girls had moved to Camden recently.

One of the girls will also be charged in relation to an investigation into other offences involving intimidation and malicious damage on a police officer’s home in Bellingen.

All three girls will face Coffs Harbour Court at a date to be determined.

“We’re satisfied with the arrest as being a strong resolution and a sense of closure for the community who has had their beloved school deliberately damaged,” Det Jameson said.

“There are serious penalties, but that's for the court to decide.

“I can say we had strong information from the public … and that has led us to where we are today.

“I won't go into evidence (but) three has been significant amount of time and resources that have gone into this investigation from our detectives, who conducted both overt and covert inquiries.

“But that’s what we do well – that's’ the business we are in. And that's a message to not only the people involved with this sorts of activities, but to the wider community, that you may think that you are able to get away with it (crimes), but the fact is we have a large amount of resources available … and we will go, we will use any resource possible to get the resolution we need, which is establishing the truth behind the incident, find out who is responsible and place them before the courts.”