The letter bomb defused at the Greek embassy in Rome on Monday was sent by anarchists seeking revenge for their comrades in Greece, the Italian police it was reported in various media agencies on Tuesday.

An Italian group called the Informal Anarchist Federation has claimed responsibility for the defused letter bomb, as well as for two letter bombs that exploded at the Swiss and Chilean embassies to Rome on December 23, seriously injuring two people.

Colonel Maurizio Mezzavilla of the Carabinieri paramilitary police said the device sent to the Greek embassy was a response to the arrests in Greece in November of two alleged members of an anarchist group, the Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire, which claimed responsibility for sending 14 letter bombs to embassies in Athens last month.

A note found with the Greek embassy bomb in Rome on Monday read, “We’re striking again, and we do so in response to the appeal sent by the Greek comrades of the Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire,” the Colonel said to other media agencies.

He quoted the note as saying: “That is why we are directing the new attack to one of the structures that represents the Greek state and its servants, in solidarity with the comrades arrested in Athens and the Conspiracy’s project which, like ours, is based on the actions and methods of revolutionary violence.”

Italian and Greek police officials say that anarchist groups across Europe maintain close ties with each other through the Internet, and often act to call attention to their cause.

Colonel Mezzavilla said the note at the Greek embassy had been found in a small metal licorice box sent in the same packet as the explosive device.

After the spate of letter bombs in Athens, Greek police arrested two Greeks, Panagiotis Argyrou, 22, and Gerasimos Tsakalos, 24, in November, and charged them with terrorism-related offenses.

They and other alleged members of their group are expected to go on trial on January 17.

The Colonel said that the packages sent to the Greek, Chilean and Swiss embassies were of similar construction.