**This report has been edited to add a comment from the Newtown Historical Society.**

Newtown Police are seeking two individuals who may have been involved in a vandalism incident at the historic one-room schoolhouse in front of Middle Gate Elementary School during the overnight of March 1-2.

CCTV footage caught the two, dressed in hoods, masks, and sunglasses, at approximately 2:25 am Saturday.

Sometime during the night, three windows of the schoolhouse were broken. They were boarded up the next day.

According to the Newtown Historical Society website, the schoolhouse is “a genuine one-room schoolhouse built in 1850. It replaced the original which was built in 1783. The original schoolhouse served what was then the Bear Hills School District. It was briefly joined to the Huntingtown school district in 1795.

"This did not work out as expected, so the two districts were separated again three years later. The name 'Bear Hills' was changed around 1802 when the Newtown-Bridgeport Turnpike was opened (this became Route 25 in 1932)," also according to the website.

Its location at 7 Cold Spring Road is not the building's original location. The school originally stood the north side of Toll Gate Hill, today's South Main Street. Since the middle toll gate was on the south side of the hill on the Monroe border, the school became the Middle Gate School.

The building was given to Newtown Historical Society in 1973 and later moved to its present site on the lawn of Middle Gate Elementary School, where it was restored and is now maintained by the society for tours and an annual open house day in the fall. It is one of two buildings maintained by the society.

The schoolhouse contains the original furniture, restored by the society so that children can experience the “comfort” of our ancestors’ learning environment. The wood frame building measures 380 square feet.

Newtown Police Department Lt Scott Smith said the investigation into the recent vandalism is still active and declined to release any further details of the vandalism as of press time.

Melissa Houston of the Newtown Historical Society said, "The Newtown Historical Society is saddened and frustrated by the recent vandalism. As stewards of this iconic piece of Newtown history, we will work towards repairs on the building. The Board has been working diligently with the police and staff at Middle Gate School. We sincerely hope to have the building repaired before the annual school visits in May. It has been a long standing tradition for Middle Gate students to spend a day at the schoolhouse to learn about life at the turn of the 19th century. Individuals interested in donating towards the restoration of the windows can visit our website."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Newtown Officer Michael McGowan at 203-426-5841 or mike.mcgowan@newtown-ct.gov.