SALT LAKE CITY - Ohio State University is promising to take appropriate action if any students are found to be involved in the vandalism of ancient rock art in Utah.

School officials said Friday they are looking into whether students on a geology field trip were responsible for scrawling signatures on the rock.

Investigators say the letters OSU are written alongside the signatures and may have first appeared at the same time as the students' July trip.

National Forest Service archaeologist Charmaine Thompson says the graffiti is on top of rock paintings that date back at least 700 years.

The vandals could face charges.

Geology professor Terry Wilson says the staff pledges to make it clear that writing or defacing any natural resource is unacceptable.