SEOUL, South Korea -- A South Korean court sentenced a man to 10 years in prison Friday for setting a fire that destroyed a 14th-century gate considered one of the country's most treasured landmarks.

The Seoul Central District Court convicted Chae Jong-ki, 69, of violating the Cultural Properties Protection Law by burning down the Namdaemun gate in central Seoul in February.

Chae had admitted to setting fire to the gate in anger over a land dispute unrelated to the landmark.

"It's unavoidable to sentence him to a heavy penalty as he caused unimaginable mental suffering to the people and tarnished the national image," Judge Lee Kyung-chun ruled, according to court spokesman Ma Yong-joo.

Under the law, a person convicted of setting fire to a government-designated cultural asset can be punished by life in prison. The Seoul court, however, did not hand down the maximum penalty against Chae because of his age and because the fire did not cause any human casualties, the spokesman said.

Chae has a week to appeal.

The Namdaemun gate once formed part of a wall that encircled the South Korean capital. It was renovated in the 1960s, when it was declared a national treasure.