As harmless high school hijinks have escalated to costly property-damaging vandalism, an Illinois police department high schools has been cracking down on a flood of homecoming-related incidents this week, culminating in the seizure of 650 rolls of toilet paper "intended to be used for these activities."

According to Plainfield police, the department received double-digit 911 calls between 7:15 and 9:15 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday involving juveniles in the area around one of the city's high schools. The city has four high schools, and their individual homecoming celebrations are spread out between now and the beginning of October.

"Residents were reporting homes and vehicles targeted with toilet paper, eggs, ketchup, laundry detergent pods, and other items," the department stated in a social media post. "20-25 people wearing hoodies & ski masks will ‘pull up’ (as the kids say) simultaneously in multiple vehicles and cause chaos."

Although the incidents have been connected to high school homecomings, residents without ties to one of the schools have been targeted, police said. And the recent calls officers have responded to have "gone well beyond harmless pranks" and have included criminal mischief and dangerous behavior.

"At this point, we are seeing property damage and significant cleanup, and residents are understandably frustrated," the department stated. 

The final straw (or should that be square?) was when police recovered hundreds of toilet paper rolls that was apparently earmarked for homecoming hell-raising. In fact, officers posed with the rolls in a parody of the images law enforcement agencies will release after large drug busts.

"(W)hen officers intercepted 650 rolls of toilet paper that were intended to be used for these activities," stated the department, adding that officers counted the rolls,"we decided to make the situation very clear: Homecoming is not a free pass to damage someone else's property or disrupt their quality of life."

The department also addressed potential criticism that officers' time would be better spent responding to "real" crimes instead of homecoming pranks. According to police, members of the force responded to a building fire, helped with a family experiencing a mental health crisis, conducted crash investigations and handled a variety of other calls on Monday and Tuesday, the days the agency was inundated with homecoming-related incidents.

"In short, we DO have better things to do. So PLEASE, be respectful of your community and let us!" the department stated.