BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Three boys were arrested Wednesday for allegedly trespassing onto a mosque and desecrating several religious artifacts.

But the investigation indicates the act was not a hate crime, police said Wednesday night.

The boys did not know they were vandalizing a place of worship, according to Lt. Bill Bailey of the BPD.

The vandals, described by police as three 14-year-old white males, hopped a fence, walked into an open door, and ransacked an office before throwing paint onto a wall and destroying a holy book and scattering leafings across the floor, according to Fakhruddin Shakir of the Anjuman-e-Hakimi Bakersfield Masjid. Someone at the mosque spotted them and called police.

"It was lucky that someone walked in while they were still doing that and they caught them, otherwise they would've put us back quite a bit," Shakir said. There were other things in there made of marble and wood that couldn't have been cleaned and would've caused much more damage."

Workers have been putting the finishing touches on the mosque, which has been under construction for three years, Shakir said. It's unclear how long it might take to clean up the vandalism.

The boys were cited for trespassing and vandalizing a place of worship. The matter will be referred to the District Attorney's office, police said.