to public property and he faces up to three years imprisonment, they said. Police said they arrested 31-year-old Michael Forsmark Poulsen at the unveiling on Wednesday of the Little Mermaid on her waterfront rock, with her head, sawn off by vandals a month ago, fully restored. They said that they suspected that Poulsen performed the beheading with the help of as yet unknown accomplices. The statue, Copenhagen's tourist icon and most famous landmark, was found decapitated in the early hours of January 6. It was the second such attack in 34 years. The cameraman, who said he was tipped off by an anonymous telephone caller, was the first to film the headless Mermaid statue, before he alerted the police. Three days later the Mermaid's severed head turned up in a box outside a local cable television station after an anonymous hooded man was filmed with it by Poulsen at a secret location prior to returning it. Poulsen told police under questioning that he did not know the culprits, whom he described as "young boys". The repair cost 25,000 crowns ($3,620), the same as the reward from the local television channel for its return, which went to the Town Hall. Poulsen declined to accept the reward. Since taking up her vigil on her harbourside rock in 1913, the Little Mermaid has had her arm amputated and has frequently been daubed with paint and graffiti. She lost her head once before in 1964 but it has never been found. Inspired by a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, the Little Mermaid statue attracts almost one million tourists a year.