(U-WIRE) WACO, Texas – A NoZe Brotherhood prank was flushed down the toilet on April Fools’ Day.

According to the Baylor University Department of Public Safety, toilet seats were removed from the Baylor Sciences Building last week. They were then spray-painted pink and attached to 14 Lariat newspaper stands across campus.

The seats were screwed into the top of the stands, with irreversible screws, and one of the stands had Rope painted in pink over Lariat by members of the NoZe Brotherhood, a campus counterculture group.

“We consider it theft and criminal mischief – it is not a prank,” Department of Public Safety Chief Jim Doak said Friday.

The prank was meant to be the new pledge class’ initiation prank and was intended to be seen by the entire student body.

However, the officers confiscated them before papers could be placed in them Friday morning.

The 18 seats were removed from the Baylor Sciences Building last week on two different occasions. Twelve seats were reported missing on March 29.

It is estimated the theft occurred between 8 a.m. March 28 and shortly after 10 a.m. on March 29. Six more were reported stolen on Friday.

“There is no telling what disruption they caused on campus to someone who went to the bathroom and did not have a seat to sit on,” Doak said.

The seats were removed randomly from the sciences building’s men’s bathrooms on all four floors.

In the process, two toilets were destroyed enough to where they had to be replaced entirely. Those toilets and seats had been in the building for less than a year.

“The officers had recognized there was something amiss when they saw the first Lariat stand with the pink toilet seat attached,” Doak said.

Doak said the officers began to search for those who were attaching the seats to the stands.

They then saw a group of students near Draper Academic Building, and as they approached, the students quickly dispersed.

The officers stopped one student and had “a season of fellowship with the student,” according to Doak.

The student whom Doak spoke with had a toilet seat in his backpack.

“Those people we have talked with up to this point have been cooperative,” Doak said.

– Mimi Wiggins

The damage to the Lariat stands totals $840, and the damage to the Baylor Sciences Building is more than $800 plus labor costs.

– Mimi Wiggins

“Right now, it is still an open investigation,” Det. David Smith, of Baylor Police, said Monday.

According to Smith, the total monetary damages are yet to be determined.

James Karban, director of sciences facilities, said the incident would not cause building administration to decrease the hours the building was open, but it is taking actions to better secure the building.

“This building was built for the students with students in mind, and we would like to think they can police themselves,” Karban said.

“We’ve put a lot of money into this building,” he said. “Pranks like this take attention away from other more important things.”

A plunger attached to the Lariat newsroom door was recovered on Friday morning, labeled with the phrase “Doing the dirty work since 1924 – Satch” and on the handle “N.N.B.,” – which stands for “Noble NoZe Brotherhood.”

There is no word yet on what type of punishment will be administered to those who were involved in the theft and criminal mischief.

“We were pulling a prank,” a brother who wished to remain anonymous said. “It was a good time. Unfortunately, we got caught.”