A student at a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem apologized Sunday after admitting he and his friends stole a prayer note written by Barack Obama and inserted into the cracks of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site.

The student, in an appearance on Israeli TV2, said he got in touch with the television network seeking help in returning the note to its rightful place. He added that he hopes Obama wins the U.S. presidential election.

"I am asking for Obama's forgiveness. If he was offended by it… of course he was, this is not a nice thing to do. Nobody meant to … it was sort of a prank. I hope he will forgive us, and we hope that he will win the presidency," said the student, whose identity was obscured by the television station.

The boy claimed he was not the one who took the note out of the Wall, but he was the one in possession of it afterward. He said a bunch of friends were at the Wall, and he is not sure who took the note out. One of his friends said he found it on the floor. Another said he took it from the wall. Later on, they tried to sell it to an Israeli newspaper.

The note written by the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee asked God to guide him and guard his family. After it was taken, the note was published in the Maariv daily newspaper. Israel TV2 said it has since returned the note to the rabbi in charge of the Western Wall, Shmuel Rabinovitz.

The theft of the note, and the newspaper's decision to publish its contents, drew condemnation from Rabinovitz, who said publishing the note intruded in Obama's relationship with God.

Notes placed in the Wall are removed twice a year, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Passover, and placed in a special repository for religious items, under supervision to keep them hidden from human eyes.

"Heaven forbid that one should read them or use them in any way," Rabinovitz said. "This sacrilegous action deserves sharp condemnation and represents a desecration of the holy site."

It is tradition for prayers and pleas to be placed by worshipers into the 2,000-year-old Western Wall. Obama did so during a pre-dawn visit Thursday, following a day spent meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders as part of his eight-day tour of Europe, Israel, Iraq and Afghanistan meant to shore up Obama' s foreign affairs credentials.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.