Woman Facing Arson, Hate Crime Charge Following Fire At Tassajara Zen Buddhist Monastery

CBS Bay Area

June 4, 2026

Authorities in Monterey County announced an arrest Tuesday in connection with a fire that burned the nation's oldest Buddhist monastery in late March.

The Monterey County Sheriff's Office said 36-year-old Fiona GuoGuo Lu of Mountain View was arrested after investigators found online social media posts that connected her to the March 27 fire at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center.

Known as the oldest Japanese Buddhist Soto Zen monastery in the United States, the center is in a remote location about 30 miles south of Carmel Valley in the Los Padres National Forest.

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