A theft of a Turkish flag and photo of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus founder Rauf Denktaş rocked the island of Cyprus last week. Days later, the family of 16-year-old Savvas Koulendoru visited Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akıncı and returned the stolen items.

The Greek Cypriot teenager was recorded on a school's security camera stealing a national flag and a photo of Rauf Denktaş on Sept. 8. He was apparently among a group of Greek Cypriots visiting the school in Akdoğan or Lysi to attend religious services in a church on the island that has been divided between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides.

Koulendoru's family also gave a letter of apology to Akıncı yesterday and denounced their son's "inconsiderate behavior, we regret that this happened."

They said their son also regretted the act and apologized to everyone offended by the theft.

The theft of the flag is a sensitive issue for Turkish Cypriots. Solomos Solomou, a Greek Cypriot man was shot dead by Turkish soldiers while trying to climb a flagpole to remove a Turkish flag in the United Nations buffer zone in 1996.