Hate Crime Updated Published Several large metal lanterns were knocked down during the incident. (Chava Sanchez/LAist) The LAPD has launched a hate crime arson investigation after the Higashi Honganji Buddist Temple in Little Tokyo was vandalized. The incident happened around 7 p.m. on Thursday. Reverend Noriaki Ito says a man climbed over the temple's fence and set two wooden lantern stands on fire. He then knocked a pair of large metal lanterns off their stands, and threw a rock that shattered a floor-to-ceiling glass panel at the entrance. Higashi Honganji Temple after the incident. You can see the boarded up glass on the entrance. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)