The ex-wife of a former violin maker was sentenced by a court to two years in prison Thursday for breaking into his house and destroying his 54 violins and 70 bows.
Qin Yue, a 35-year-old Chinese national, broke into her then-estranged husband's home in Nagoya in 2014 and destroyed his violins and bows which were worth around ¥15.6 million, according to the Nagoya District Court ruling.
In handing down the ruling Presiding Judge Satoko Shotokuji said Qin had admitted to writing graffiti on a wall, and described the action of destroying the violins as one committed by someone with a strong hatred.
The couple, whose divorce was finalized in 2016, were in the middle of divorce proceedings when the incident took place.
Qin denied the allegations, saying she did not break all the violins and bows, but the district court dismissed her claim.
Prosecutors had sought a three-year prison term. Qin's defense team appealed the court's decision the same day.