Penn State University Police said they now think that "TANG," the word spray painted onto several buildings on campus in the last month, means "Terrorist Anarchist Ninja Guys."
Because of this, the FBI is now investigating the March 27 arson at the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA) Building and graffiti on and off campus as possible homeland security issues, University Police Supervisor Dwight Smith said.
"The FBI is investigating to determine if any federal statutes were violated, particularly those statutes relating to domestic terrorism," University Police Director Tom Harmon said. Harmon said he couldn't specify why the FBI is investigating the incidents as domestic terrorism.
Police are also still investigating the State College man arrested Saturday in connection with an arson in the SALA Building and the on-campus spray painting.
Craig Tonik, 19, of 131 N. Sparks St., has been at the Centre County Prison since Saturday on $870,000 bail.
Yesterday, university police received another report of "TANG" being found scratched onto the surface of a Penn State student's car.
The word was scrawled onto the hood of a 1989 blue Mustang while it was parked in Lot 22 of Eastview Terrace.
University Police Supervisor Tyrone Parham said the incident, which occurred sometime between Sunday and Monday, appeared to be random in nature since no other cars in the vicinity were affected.
Parham said there are no leads or suspects on this particular case yet.
"There were scratches on the hood, trunk lid, doors and roof and back window," he said. "Some of the scratches went all the way down to the metal of the car."
Harmon said the possibility of Monday's incident being a copycat crime is still under investigation.
"I think it's a possibility, given the publicity this case has had," he said.
Harmon said university police are working with the State College Police Department. "We're still interviewing witnesses that we believe have information of value," he said.
Anyone with any information on these cases is encouraged to call university police at 863-1111 or State College police at 234-7150.
The FBI was unavailable for comment yesterday afternoon.
Collegian Staff Writer Drew Curley contributed to this report.
