Police believe the 17-year-old is the prankster responsible for running an Instagram account named “fish_bandit84”, which shared photos of the bizarre deeds with tens of thousands of followers.

The Instagram page’s bio reads: “Live, laugh, tape fish on ATMs 🐠🏧 No fish were harmed in the process.”

As well as ATMs, the account shows fish taped in other public places in the town of Provo, Utah, including one taped to a police car, KSL TV reports.

The boy has been referred to a district juvenile court for two misdemeanour counts of causing property damage.