Spanish national fined for damaging historic Taipei temple

Taipei, Feb. 18 (CNA) A Spanish national has been fined NT$15,000 (US$457.8) for a 2023 incident in which he used lacquer thinner to damage a painting on the doors of Taipei's historic Shilin Cixian Temple.

According to an indictment by the Shilin District Prosecutors Office, the man, identified by the Chinese surname "Fang" (方), was arrested at the temple located inside Shilin Night Market in the early hours of Aug. 14, 2023.

After being tipped off by local shopkeepers, police arrived at the scene to find Fang using a brush and rags to scrub the temple's painted wooden doors with lacquer thinner, toluene (a solvent used in paint thinners), and cleaning solutions.

Fang, who was 53 at the time, told police he had only been trying to remove black spots on the painting and was unaware that the temple was a protected historical site.

The Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs later filed a legal complaint accusing Fang of property damage under the Criminal Code and violations of the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act.

After reviewing the case, prosecutors decided to indict Fang for property damage but declined to press charges under the cultural heritage law.

Although the doors and stairway of the temple had Chinese and English signs indicating its status as a historical site, they were small, dimly lit and positioned in such a way that they may not have been immediately visible, prosecutors said.

In a verdict issued earlier this month, the Shilin District Court noted that although Fang was cooperative during interrogation and admitted to his crimes, he had not reached an out-of-court settlement nor obtained the forgiveness of the city government.

On those grounds, the court fined Fang NT$15,000, commutable to community service at a rate of NT$1,000 per day. The verdict can be appealed.

According to Ministry of the Interior data, Shilin Cixian Temple, which is dedicated to the sea goddess Mazu, was founded in 1796 and moved to its current location in 1864.

The artwork on the temple's doors was painted by the Tainan-born artist Chen Yu-feng (陳玉峰) in 1960, the data shows.