A 65-year-old American tourist has been arrested in Japan after being accused of vandalizing a shrine. Steve Lee Hayes was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of property damage, a Tokyo Metropolitan Police spokesperson told TheJapan Times. Hayes is accused of ...

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

TOKYO, Japan – An American arrested for defacing a sacred Tokyo shrine became the latest example of Japan’s struggle to cope with misbehaving visitors amid a boom in inbound tourism.

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.

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.

Tokyo Metropolitan Police alleged that the 65-year-old man used his fingernails to carve five letters into the pillar of a torii gate at the popular tourist spot.