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.

Suspect Steve Lee Hayes, 65, allegedly carved letters into the wooden pillar of one of the shrine's torii gates.

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.

An American tourist has been arrested in Japan for allegedly carving letters into a pillar of a gate to a shrine in Tokyo.

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

A 65-year-old US tourist was arrested for allegedly etching letters onto a traditional wooden gate at a Tokyo shrine, police said Thursday.

The antics of tourists in places of religious worship never cease to amaze. In Japan, there's much talk about an American tourist who carved letters into the wooden gate of one of Tokyo's most frequently visited temples.