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

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

Japanese police have arrested a 65-year-old American tourist for allegedly defacing a Tokyo shrine. The man, identified as Steve Hayes, is accused of using his fingernails to scratch five letters into a torii gate at the Meiji Jingu shrine on Tuesday morning.

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.

Tokyo Metropolitan Police allege the man used his fingernails to carve five letters into the pillar of a torii gate at the popular tourist attraction.

An American tourist was arrested for vandalism at a historic shrine in Tokyo a day after arriving in the country on vacation with his family.

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

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.