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American Tourist Busted for Gross Desecration of Tokyo Shrine

The 65-year-old carried out the alleged vandalism “just for fun,” according to a report.

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. He allegedly etched the characters “just for fun,” according to Tokyo Weekender, and was taken into custody at his hotel. The incident is one in a string of similar defacements, visitors having graffitied pillars at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo twice already this year. Reuters reports that “overtourism” may be to blame: 27 million people visited Japan between January and September, injecting the equivalent of $37.5 billion into the economy but also saddling the country with drunken, rowdy visitors who leave their trash in the streets and strain transportation systems and generally make life more difficult for locals. As for Hayes, he’s reportedly receiving assistance from the U.S. Embassy.