A woman in Japan has been arrested on suspicion of smashing her former partner’s valuable violin collection.

A messy divorce can leave anyone strung out. A woman has been arrested in Japan on suspicion of destroying her former partner’s violin collection, the Japan Times reported. The collection was valued at 105.9 million yen, about $1.19 million Australian dollars.

34-year-old Midori Kawamiya, a musical instrument seller, has admitted breaking into the home of her estranged husband in 2014 but denied damaging the collection.

The break-in, through a window in the husband’s workshop in Nagoya in Japan’s Aichi Prefecture, occurred while the 62-year-old Norwegian violin maker and seller was on a business trip. The couple were in the middle of a divorce at the time. In total 54 violins and 70 bows were destroyed, including an Italian violin worth 50 million yen (AU$562,000).

Kawamiya, who is a Chinese national and travels between the two countries, was arrested upon her return to Tokyo on Tuesday.