American tourist arrested in Japan for defacing a religious shrine by carving into gate with his fingernails - The 65-year-old reportedly admitted he ‘wrote his family members’ names’ on the wooden pi

A 65-year-old American is suspected of carving alphabetical characters into the pillar of a torii gate of the Meiji Jingu Shrine.

Steve Lee Hayes had carved letters onto a pillar of a gate of a shrine in Shibuya and was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of property damage, Tokyo Metropolitan Police said.

A 65-year-old American tourist has been arrested in Japan for allegedly carving letters into a torii gate at a Tokyo shrine.

Tokyo authorities arrested a 65-year-old U.S. tourist for allegedly defacing the grate of a local shrine on Tuesday.

An American visiting Japan with his family has been arrested on suspicion of vandalism after allegedly desecrating Tokyo’s Meiji Jingu Shrine. According to Reuters, the 65-year-old (identified as Steve Lee Hayes) clawed five letters representing family names into a pillar of the Torii gates with his fingernails.

An American man is arrested on suspicion of vandalizing Tokyo's Meiji Shrine:: Tokyo, Japan:: November 14, 2024:: File:: Police say the 65-year-old used his fingernail to etch letters into a wooden pillar Japan welcomed nearly 27 million visitors through September,