Japan: Toshodaiji Kondo temple in Nara defaced by Canadian teen

Toshodaiji Temple in Nara is identified as a national treasure of Japan

A Canadian teenager has been questioned by police in Japan after carving letters on a wooden pillar of an 8th Century temple.

Police said the 17-year-old boy carved "Julian" on a pillar at the Toshodaiji Kondo temple complex in Nara, Japan.

The boy was caught carving the pillar with his fingernail by a Japanese tourist, who alerted temple staff.

The temple is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.

After the incident, which occurred on 7 July, the boy was questioned on suspicion of violating the cultural properties protection law.

The carving was made on the pillar of the temple's "Golden Hall", which is a designated national treasure, police told Japanese newspaper The Mainichi.

Police also told CNN that the boy said his actions did not intend to harm Japanese culture. They added he is now with his parents, who were with him when the vandalism occurred.

A monk at the temple told The Mainichi that "even though it may have been done without malice, it is still regrettable and sad".

The temple is one of eight sites that make up the Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara.

According to UNESCO's website, the monuments, which include Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, "provide a vivid picture of life in the Japanese capital in the eighth century, a period of profound political and cultural change".

Nara is around 45km (28 miles) south of Kyoto, and was once the capital of Japan. It remains popular with tourists.

Under Japanese law, any person who has damaged an object of "important cultural property" could face up to five years in prison, or a fine of ¥300,000 ($2,120; £1,650).

The incident in Nara follows a video which showed a UK-based man carving a message into a wall at Rome's ancient Colosseum.

The man, Ivan Dimitrov, faces legal proceedings after cutting "Ivan+Haley 23" into stone at the 2,000-year-old monument. He has apologised and said that was not aware how old the monument was when he acted.