A prank by three Humboldt State University students led to a bomb scare Monday that attracted bomb technicians and a host of law enforcement agencies.

Around 12:30 p.m., three students turned themselves in to the University Police Department.

HSU administrators, the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office and UPD are considering whether to press criminal charges or take administrative action against the students.

The students’ intention, according to an HSU press release, was to provoke interest in the unusual placement of the boxes.

It provoked quite a different response.

The discovery of three suspicious-looking cardboard boxes taped to several buildings throughout the university campus led to an investigation by law enforcement as to whether there were explosives inside. Officials found no explosives in any of the boxes.

University officials closed off large portions of the campus, including several buildings, during the investigation by the UPD and bomb technicians from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.

The incident disrupted the first day in a week of finals at the university, angering many students who needed access to the buildings that were closed.

This is the fourth bomb scare in Arcata in less than a week. There was a bomb threat reported at Arcata High School on Friday.

No explosives were located during that incident and the Arcata Police Department cited and released a 16-year-old AHS sophomore who called in the threat.

University officials received a report around 8 a.m. from staff members who noticed a suspicious cardboard box taped onto the Science B Complex.

The placement and appearance of the box at the Science B building was suspicious enough to be treated as if it were a bomb, UPD Police Chief Tom Dewey said.

The box had the words “I will destroy your city” handwritten on it.

“We went into action just as soon as we were notified,” said HSU spokesperson Paul Mann.

Several students told The Eureka Reporter that they saw the box on the building late last week.

“I saw it there since Thursday,” said HSU student Carl Hesselein.

Mann said he didn’t know when the three students placed the boxes in the three locations.

Around 9 a.m., university officials found a second suspicious cardboard box attached to a support beam on the Art Building.

A search revealed a third box located near the Natural Resources and Sciences Building in the late afternoon, Mann said.

The university’s emergency campuswide text-message system was not used to notify students about the bomb threat.

A message was not sent out on the system regarding the bomb threats because HSU officials did not want to cause a panic and they try to use the system sparingly, said Marketing and Communications Associate Vice President Frank Whitlatch.

“It’s not a campuswide imminent danger,” he said Monday during the incident.

Considering the manpower and resources used during the incident, Mann said it probably cost thousands of dollars.

“It’s been extremely costly,” he said.

The closure of buildings affected many students who planned to work on research projects, practice music and take their finals.

University officials quickly reorganized final exam schedules, which affected dozens of students, Mann said.

“It certainly was measurable,” he said of the effect on students expecting to take their finals.

HSU student Veronica Stahl planned to practice her vocals before the music building’s closure, and HSU student Jacqueline Buntman hoped to have her final finished Monday.

“I want to get it over with,” Buntman said Monday.

“It’s a waste of my time,” Hesselein said of the Science B building’s closure. “I need to get back to work.”

(Diane M. Batley contributed to this story.)