Temple sprayed with graffiti after withdrawing from Olympic torch relay(TODAY JAPAN NEWS)
Sunday 20th April, 04:17 PM JST
NAGANO —
Graffiti was found on the main building of the Zenkoji Buddhist Temple in the city of Nagano on Sunday morning after the major temple declined Friday to serve as the starting point of the Japan leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay, police said. Circles and lines were drawn with white spray paint at six points on wooden doors and columns of the main building, a national treasure, according to the investigation. They were sprayed at a height of about 1 meter from the floor.
The graffiti was not present when a monk in charge of security patrolled the area around 11 p.m. Saturday while walking through the temple grounds, which are open to the public 24 hours a day, and a security officer did not notice any suspicious individuals after that, police said. Following its announcement that it was declining to host the torch relay, Zenkoji said it had received about 100 phone calls a day expressing support or opposition to the decision. Zenkoji will increase its security personnel from the current five to about eight, light up the temple at nighttime and carry out a 24-hour patrol, the temple said. For the foreseeable future, Nagano police will also have about 10 officers guarding the temple.
The graffiti was not present when a monk in charge of security patrolled the area around 11 p.m. Saturday while walking through the temple grounds, which are open to the public 24 hours a day, and a security officer did not notice any suspicious individuals after that, police said. Following its announcement that it was declining to host the torch relay, Zenkoji said it had received about 100 phone calls a day expressing support or opposition to the decision. Zenkoji will increase its security personnel from the current five to about eight, light up the temple at nighttime and carry out a 24-hour patrol, the temple said. For the foreseeable future, Nagano police will also have about 10 officers guarding the temple.
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