OG Woody Guthrie created punk rock
I'd argue that the earliest roots of punk can be traced back to Link Wray, the song rumble more or less started garage rock, garage rock bands would then in turn influence early punk.
No one invented it....it evolved naturally out of various bands in the 60s like the sonics, the stooges, the MC5, velvet underground, some kinks etc. (as said above) which came to be known as proto-punk in hindsight. In turn a lot of those bands where just playing old blues riffs, or 50s rock and roll...a lot of it was pretty much the same as the 60s blues revival stuff like the rolling stones, or garage rock, but with more edge....
Or was it the Monkees with "Stepping Stone"?