Canadian teenager faces prosecution for defacing 1,200-old temple in Japan
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Tokyo: Police in Japan are questioning a Canadian teenager for defacing an ancient temple in Nara here on July 7.
The teenager scrawled his name on one of the wooden pillars of the 1,200-year-old, which is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, according to BBC.
The temple also makes up one of the eight sites of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara.
The boy reportedly carved into the woodwork the word ‘Julian’ with his bare hands, which made a Japanese tourist to ask him to stop it, before notifying the temple employees.
‘On the southwest side of Toshodaiji Kondo, there are wooden pillars supporting the roof. On the pillars to the side, the boy carved ‘Julian' on a wooden pillar about 170 centimeters above the ground with his nail, police reportedly said.
After temple staffers alerted, police questioned him the following day.
The boy admitted to have committed the act without any intent to harm the Japanese culture, an official said, adding that ‘He is now with his parents, who were with him when the incident occurred’.
The monk at the temple is not in a mood to forgive saying though it was done without malice it was still ‘regrettable and sad’.
The boy will be taken to prosecutors for violating the Law for Protection of Cultural Properties. He will not be detained, the report said.
Damaging a cultural property in Japan is punishable with five years in prison or a fine of 300,000 Yen (about $2,819).