Police are also looking for a second person who may have played a role in the incident.
Manuel Castro, 30, was arrested on suspicion of vandalism about 7 p.m. Wednesday in West Hollywood, said Torrance police Sgt. Steve Jenkinson.
The graffiti — accompanied by a representation of a cow holding a paint brush — appeared during a week of demonstrations at Chick-fil-A restaurants nationwide sparked by company President Dan Cathy’s public denunciation of same-sex marriage.
Discovered about 6:40 a.m. Friday at the Hawthorne Boulevard restaurant, the vandalism coincided with “National Same-Sex Kiss Day,” when gay rights supporters asked couples to take photos of themselves kissing at Chick-fil-A locations.
Castro took credit for the graffiti in an interview with the Huffington Post.
Investigators were aware of Castro’s comments and worked to independently identify him as their suspect, Jenkinson said. Using “numerous items of evidence” discovered at the scene as well as information gathered during their investigation, detectives consulted with the Los Angeles district attorney’s office before arresting Castro.
