埼玉県地蔵遭破壞

Recently the Yomiuri News reported the following:

埼玉県北部で昨年９月以降、地蔵が相次いで倒されるなどした事件で、県警は９日、本庄市の無職男（３４）を器物損壊容疑で逮捕した。
　男は「去年の夏頃から二十数件やった」と一連の事件への関与を認めているが、「悪霊が『仏を大事にしろ』としつこく繰り返すので、悪霊を退治するために地蔵を壊す必要があった」と話しているといい、県警は刑事責任能力についても調べる方針。
　発表などによると、男は８日未明、美里町関の長勝院にある地蔵２体の首をけ落とした疑い。付近に設置した防犯カメラの映像などから男が浮上。男が使っていた軽乗用車から塗料スプレー４缶も押収された。男は「夜眠れず、自分で運転して寺に行った」などと供述しているという。
　県警や被害に遭った寺によると、県北では昨年９～１２月、本庄市内４か所で地蔵が壊される事件が６件発生。今年は、本庄（９件）、深谷（６件）、美里（５件）、熊谷（２件）、神川（１件）にも飛び火していた。
　県警は、関係５署や捜査１課の合同捜査班を本庄署に設置。地蔵がある計約４００か所のうち、被害が予想される場所に防犯カメラや捜査員を投入していた。

In northern part of Saitama Prefecture since September last year statues of Jizo were knocked down one after another, on the 9th prefecture police arrested an unemployed man (34) of Honjo City on suspicion of property damage.

The man admitted that he "did 20 or more cases around last summer" and had participated in the series of incidents and seemed to have said, " the evil spirit 'is a big matter in Buddha', it lingered on and repeatedly returned, in order to root out the evil spirit it was necessary to break the Jizo statues", and prefecture police had the policy to examine the criminal responsibility of the man.

According to the announcement, a man was suspected of knocking down the head of two Jizo statues in the Long Victory Temple in Misato-cho Gate before dawn of the 8th. A man appeared in the image of the security camera that was set up in the vicinity. As many as four paints spray cans were confiscated from the mini-passenger car which this man used. The man testified that "Being not able to sleep at night I went to the temple, and I did the driving myself".

According to the temple that had suffered damages and the prefecture police, six cases of Jizo statute damage had occurred in four locations in the Honjo city in north prefecture from September to December last year. It leapt to Honjo (9 cases), Fukaya (6 cases), Misato (5 cases), Kumagaya (2 cases), and Kamikawa (1 case) this year.

Prefecture police set up a combination investigation group from five related regions and one investigation division in the Honjo station. Security cameras and agents were sent to the places where damages were expected among the about 400 locations in total that had Jizo statues.

I am wondering whether the man who had done these could have been mentally disturbed.