CLINTON (WGME) -- A cow in central Maine died unexpectedly, and cops say vandals are to blame.

The first pen was opened around 11:30 at night releasing about 150 cows. Once the owners got all of them back in, they received a call around 1:30 saying around 500 cows were loose in the area.

Police say whoever did this knew their way around the farm.

The cooling mechanism on their stainless steel milk tanks had been shut off. If that hadn't been caught in time, it would have caused the milk to go bad, costing the farm around $10,000.

One of the cows fell into a drainage hole, breaking its neck and killing it. To replace the cow will cost around $2,000.

Clinton Police say this vandalism is a threat to the farm owner's livelihood.

Police say they have a small pool of suspects at this time. They believe it was high school kids not making sound decisions.

They hope the person will come forward to avoid an arrest, and that they don't expect jail time, but there will be a fine to repay the farm.