A usually packed parking lot sat empty at Harlem Tuesday morning. Only a few hours earlier, the school was a crime scene.

"There was forcible entry made into the school on the ground floor. Someone physically broke out a window and entered the school."

Around 4 a.m. Tuesday, police say the suspect then headed to the school's library. It's there that a pile of books was set on fire.

"It was lying at the end of an aisle between two shelves. The shelves were not involved at all.....It just appeared to be books off the shelf that students could check out," says Harlem Roscoe Fire Chief Don Shoevlin.

Fire crews were able to put out the small blaze quickly, but couldn't tell what type of books were destroyed.

The damages were minor but smoke spread to other areas of the school.
 

"The carbon monoxide levels were a little higher than they should be, so we wanted to make sure the building is completely cleared out before we allow anybody to come in," says Harlem School District Superintendent Julie Morris.

In the meantime, police are reviewing security camera video from inside and outside the building. But for now they say they have more questions than answers.

"If there was some type of accelerant that might have been utilized or if they just started the books on fire themselves. If that was the intent or if there was an intent to go into the school to steal something. At this point we just don't know," says Winnebago County Sheriff Deputy Chief Dominic Iasparro.

"If we had information, we would certainly have followed up on it and prevented anything from happening. But this is something that happened and we're following up now," says Morris.

Damages are estimated at $5000. Fire officials say they'll return to the building to check carbon monoxide levels.

The school is expected to reopen Wednesday.