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 tourist has been arrested in Japan for allegedly carving letters into a torii gate at a Tokyo shrine.

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

American tourist Steve Hayes was arrested on Wednesday ‘on suspicion of damaging property’ at the Meiji Jingu shrine

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

An American tourist has been arrested in Japan for allegedly carving letters into a pillar of a gate to a shrine in Tokyo.

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,