Matthew Colvin, 26, was arrested in April (15) and charged with taking the heart-shaped spectacles from the Rock 'n' Soul Museum in Memphis.

They were later recovered and returned to the exhibition, and Colvin pleaded guilty to a charge of theft of property worth more than $1,000 (£625). He has been sentenced to two years probation and has now issued a public apology, telling local TV news outlet WREG, "I've never done anything even close to this stupid... I am very sorry for what I did... It was not a pre-planned thing. It was just a really unfortunate stupid thing that I did not being in my right mind."

A representative for the museum adds, "If Mr. Colvin is truly remorseful, he doesn't need to be wasting TV news time... for the benefit of all Memphians, he just simply needs to quit stealing."