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Does this sound like just “a prank” to you? From today’s Boston Globe:

State Police arrested the two 21-year-olds after a spokeswoman said they were caught on the roof of the capitol snapping photographs of the dome, which at one time was covered in copper by a company owned by Paul Revere.
“Apparently, it was a prank,” said Sergeant Carol MacDonald.
Francisco Martin and Mehdi Akbar Hachambhoa are scheduled to appear today in Boston Municipal Court to face trespassing and vandalism charges.

The men found a door on the fifth floor that led out on to the roof, MacDonald said.

What it doesn’t say in this article, which gets one of the suspects names wrong, is that Mehdi Akbar Hashambhoy is a Boston College student from Morocco (according to AP). Gee, I wonder why The Boston Globe left that “insignificant,” little fact out.
And then there’s this other “unimportant” detail (also reported by AP and also omitted from The Globe’s account):

Prosecutors say they climbed through a window to get onto the roof, and also got inside the historic “golden dome.”
With temperatures in the 80s, many Statehouse windows were open.

Also from AP:

It wasn’t immediately known if they accessed the roof from a door or a window, or whether they had to use force, [State Police Sgt. Tim} Reardon said. Many Statehouse windows were open Thursday, with temperatures in the 80s.

Predictably, Boston College spokesman Jack Dunn says nothing to see here, move along:

“They were two seniors who are leaving the area upon graduation,” he said. “They were simply trying to take pictures from atop the Statehouse.” . . .
“It’s students who used poor judgment for what was an innocent activity,” Dunn said.

That’s an awful lot of effort in the humid Back Bay heat, just for some pictures. Just “a prank” and/or Boston photographic expedition . . . or casing an important landmark for an attack? I reprint, you decide.
Thanks to reader Duane for the tip.