A Russian man who told the U.K.'s Guardian that he is responsible for marking up a multimillion dollar Mark Rothko painting says that he improved the value of the abstract painting.

Rothko's 1958 canvas Black on Maroon was scribbled on with an ink pen by a visitor to London's Tate Modern gallery over the weekend.

The inscription appears to read "Vladimir Umanets, a potential piece of yellowism."

A person named Vladimir Umanets told the Guardian over the phone, "I didn't destroy the picture. I did not steal anything. There was a lot of stuff like this before. Marcel Duchamp signed things that were not made by him, or even Damien Hirst."

Police are investigating the videotaped incident.