Tourists are defacing Kyoto's beautiful bamboo grove.

Many of Japan's popular and sought out tourist spots are enhanced by the nature around them, and thus sensitive to behavior by those who just don't know any better. In the past year, concerns of unruly tourists angering deer in Nara to the point of being bitten, as well as breaking sakura tree branches for the sake of Instagram photos have become national news story-lines.

Unfortunately, it appears that narrative has now extended to include the scenic bamboo grove in Arashiyama, Kyoto, where tourists are carving their names into the grove's famous bamboo trees.

In case you're unfamiliar, here are the bamboo stalks as they appear decorating the grove's main path.

Sadly, the Asahi Shinbun reports that the scenic forest has been marred as over 100 bamboo stalks have been vandalized with carvings of names, dates, and heart marks. English, Chinese, and Korean characters appear to be mostly used (although some names are Japanese).

A Kyoto city official tells the Mainichi “The visitors might have carved their names to commemorate their trips, but we can’t accept such behavior which could disappoint many other tourists who are looking forward to enjoying the scenery of the forests."

An official in charge of bamboo maintenance in the grove told ANN in the video below that because the damaged bamboo rots, they have no choice but to cut down and discard the stalks that have carvings in them. Green tape is used to mask some of the damage in some cases (yet this may also cause rot).

Some have taken to Twitter to discourage the behavior.