CNN —A 65-year-old American tourist has been arrested in Japan for allegedly carving letters into a torii gate at a Tokyo shrine. The suspect, Steve Lee Hayes, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of property damage, a Tokyo Metropolitan Police spokesperson told CNN. Police said the man allegedly defaced the pillar of a shrine gate in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward on Tuesday, “carving the alphabet with his fingernails.”According to public broadcaster NHK, five letters – believed to be the tourist’s family name – were allegedly etched into a gate pillar at Tokyo’s Meiji Shrine. Located adjacent to the city’s sprawling Yoyogi Park, Meiji Shrine first opened in 1920 and was dedicated to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. A closeup image of scratches on a torii gate at Meiji Shrine, taken on November 14, 2024.

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Persons: Steve Lee Hayes, –, Emperor Meiji, Shoken, Yuichi Yamazaki Organizations: CNN, Tokyo Metropolitan Police, Police, NHK, . Police, Meiji, Mount Fuji, UNESCO Locations: Japan, Tokyo, Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward, Meiji, AFP, Kesennuma, Nara