Californian police have questioned one Dublin student and hope to talk to a dozen more about severe damage to apartments in Santa Barbara.
The 13, with addresses in Dublin, are accused by a management company of trashing three apartments, flooding them and writing obscene graffiti on the walls.
Some of the students are also accused of attacking a nearby fraternity house, smashing photographs and throwing TVs off the roof of their own apartment block. Two third-level students come from the Blackrock area, while others are from Leopardstown, Raheny and Castleknock.
BDC, a building management firm in Isla Vista, Santa Barbara, claims the students caused more than $15,000 (€12,472) damage. American students who sublet the apartments are being forced to pay the bill, but are preparing to fight their case in court.
Police have questioned a student from the Dublin Institute of Technology after he was found at another BDC property.
Property manager Kathy Maher said it was the worst case of vandalism she had seen.
This week, she e-mailed photographs of the damage to the deans and presidents of the students' colleges in Ireland, including Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, and the DIT.
Josh Kimball, a biochemistry major who subleased his apartment to the students, said the apartment was "destroyed" and that the carpet smelled of urine, the front door had disappeared and there were holes in the wall.
Ms Maher said BDC had to replace the floor in one bathroom because it was ruined by water from an overflowing toilet.
Community police Lieut Sol Linver said one student had already been questioned and police wanted to speak to the other 12. Most of the students are believed to have returned to Ireland. Ms Maher said she would do all she could to ensure they paid for the damage but that BDC was now locked in a lawsuit with American students who sublet the apartment. "We didn't want it to come to this, we're hoping there can be a resolution."
Police believe the students had come to Santa Barbara on J1 student visas.
Ms Maher said she rented apartments to Irish students for many years and had not had serious problems. "There was never anything like this," she said. "The destruction is in every part of the room, from damaged heater covers, to overflowing toilets to marker scribbles all over the walls and the appliances. It wasn't just that there was graffiti on the walls, it was the really lewd words and pictures."
Another management company, Ventura Enterprises, has complained that the Irish students "invaded" their building, El Greco, and trashed photos in an apartment used by a university fraternity house.