A Darwin school was forced to close for the day after an overnight break-in caused "extensive" damage that raised safety concerns for students and staff.
O'Loughlin Catholic College, a secondary school in the Darwin suburb of Karama, was broken into about 12.30am Tuesday, with police investigating the incident as a case of unlawful entry and criminal damage.
Parents and carers were told by text at around 7.30am that the school would be closed for the day due to safety risks created by the damage.
A large amount of smashed glass was the main issue, according to a follow-up email.
In a statement, Catholic Education NT director Paul Greaves said the organisation was "very disappointed" at the news.
"The damage was quite extensive and unfortunately of a nature that it presented a supervision and safety risk to students were they to attend," he said.
"I spoke to staff at the school this morning and it was clear that they are all struggling to understand why any school would be targeted in such a manner."
He said the cost of the damage was still being determined but would be significant.
Another email sent to parents this afternoon said "thorough cleaning" would be needed to make the school safe and extra professional cleaners had been employed.
"Most of the damage was caused to our Administration Block, Creative Arts Area, Food Technology Rooms and the Mary Ward wing, with lots of broken glass, smashed computers and excessive power from the fire extinguishers," it said.
The email also outlined timetable changes for Wednesday, including remote learning for Year 11 and 12 students and an altered timetable for Year 10 students.
"With such a large area of our school impacted, we have had to modify the timetable and learning spaces so that we can have some students return to school tomorrow," the email said.
In a statement, NT Education Minister Eva Lawler said she was "saddened and disappointed to see such senseless destruction of school property, particularly at the start of a new year".
