University of Minnesota Board of Regents member and former state legislator Laura Brod confirmed Thursday a private photograph posted of her online was authentic and said in a statement that she intends to pursue legal action against the anonymous publisher.

The revealing photo, posted on a Tumblr blog Monday afternoon, shows Brod lying on a bed. A link to the blog was anonymously sent to several local media organizations, including the Minnesota Daily, Monday afternoon. The story first emerged on City Pages’ website Thursday afternoon after Checks and Balances, a local political website, tweeted out a link to the photo.   

In a statement first released Thursday, Brod and her husband Wade said the photo was “illegally disseminated” for the “sole purpose of embarrassing our family and damaging our reputations.”

“We cannot begin to explain why someone would be so mean, and so hateful,” the statement said. “Nor can we overstate the humiliation they have caused.”

Brod and her husband said that the larger issue of privacy invasion is not unique to them and that they are pursuing “all legal means possible to prosecute whoever is responsible for the illegal dissemination of this material.” 

According to the statement, Brod and her husband have had a “difficult marriage.” The statement said the two have led “separate lives, have been separated and are presently going through a very amicable divorce.”

The University of Minnesota does not plan to release a statement, said University spokesman Chuck Tombarge.

“That is all I can tell you at this point in time,” he said.

–Emma Nelson contributed to this report