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.

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

Police said Wednesday they have arrested a 65-year-old American male for allegedly defacing Meiji Jingu shrine in Tokyo earlier this

Steven Lee Hayes, 65, is accused of carving his family's name into the gate of a famed Tokyo shrine, say police

The arrest of an American tourist for defacing a revered Tokyo shrine has highlighted a growing challenge for Japan, a country renowned for its politeness and reverence for tradition, now grappling with a surge in foreign tourists who sometimes disregard local customs and laws.

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.