According to the Nara, Japan, police, a 17-year-old kid etched the name “Julian” on a pillar at the Toshodaiji Kondo temple complex.
A Japanese visitor discovered the youngster using his fingernail to carve the pillar and informed the temple staff.
It has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The youngster was questioned following the event, which happened on July 7, on the grounds that he may have broken the law protecting cultural properties.
The child claimed to police that his acts were not intended to hurt Japanese culture. He is currently living with his parents, who were also there when the vandalism took place, they added.
Even while it may not have been done with malice, it is nonetheless regrettable and sad, a monk at the temple told The Mainichi.
The temple is one of the eight locations that make up the Nara Historic Monuments.
Approximately 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of Kyoto is Nara, which was formerly Japan’s capital. Tourists continue to find it appealing.
Anyone who tampers with an item of “important cultural property” in Japan may be sentenced to up to five years in prison or pay a fine of 300,000 ($2,120; £1,650).
The incident in Nara comes after a video emerged showing a man from the UK writing a message on a wall at Rome’s historic Colosseum.
Ivan Dimitrov, the man who carved “Ivan+Haley 23” into the stone at the 2,000-year-old monument, is now facing legal action. He has apologized and said that he was ignorant of the monument’s age at the time he behaved.
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