A minister is calling himself the “sand castle bandit” after a run-in with the law.

Bryant Rylee, a youth minister from Alabama, was in Panama City for spring break with his family when he was told his sand castle was violating beach rules, according to the Panama City News Herald.

Rylee used a metal hoe to dig a hole 1 foot deep, which cost him $25, according to his Facebook post.

Beach patrol told the family that metal tools were not allowed and holes can’t be deeper than 2 feet, according to the News Herald.

Rylee said he was given a chance to fill in the hole, but refused and asked officers to cite the ordinance. Police came back with the ordinance and a ticket for the metal hoe, the News Herald reported.

"We put that ordinance in effect for more serious incidents, like the sexual assaults we were having on the beach," city police chief Drew Whitman told the News Herald. "We never intended to mess up someone's sand castle. We're all for families building sand castles."

About the Author

Keep Reading

Blue heron are just one of the hundreds of kinds of animals and plants that call the Okefenokee Swamp home. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Featured

The renovation of Jekyll Island's Great Dunes golf course includes nine holes designed by Walter Travis in the 1920s for the members of the Jekyll Island Club. Several holes that were part of the original layout where located along the beach and were bulldozed in the 1950s.(Photo by Austin Kaseman)

Credit: Photo by Austin Kaseman