Going after the people who wrecked your home can be an exercise in futility. That seemed to be the case for a couple from Austin, Texas, USA.

When police visited a home on Channel Island Drive in southeast Austin to check on the welfare of its occupants last 6 August, no one answered the knocks, prompting the officers to kick the door open.

A man inside the house armed with a gun thought a burglar was trying to get in, so he fired at the intruders. One of the officers took cover in a garage across the street as backup was called.

When the SWAT team arrived, they barged into the house of Glen Shield and his wife, handcuffed the couple and brought them to the police station. There, they learned they had raided the wrong house instead of the one across the street.

The mistaken identity was eventually clarified, and the Shields were released. To their shock, they returned to a badly damaged home. The door was blown up, a bullet hole was in the window, the carpet was damaged, and the fence was destroyed.

Shield filed a claim with the city to cover the cost of the damage, but the city denied it, invoking a Texas state law that provides immunity from liability for property damage to local governments that engage in law enforcement and public safety functions, KVUE reported.

The couple was given the runaround by city hall, so they went to the Institute for Justice to help recover the cost of their house repairs.

Meanwhile, an American tourist in Israel was arrested and detained on 5 October for allegedly damaging a statue at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

The 40-year-old man, who was not named, allegedly pulled down two ancient Roman sculptures dating to the 2nd century CE.

According to police, the man justified his actions by saying the sculptures were "idolatrous" and contrary to the Torah (Hebrew Bible), CNN reported.

To secure his client's release, the man's lawyer told police he had mental illness. Atty. Nick Kaufman told CNN his client had Jerusalem Syndrome, where the afflicted "believe themselves to be biblical figures."

Kaufman's client was referred for psychiatric evaluation with the expectation that he would be released from pre-trial detention, CNN said.