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DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — A naked man taken into custody after climbing up a communications tower on the 720 block of East Temple Street Wednesday has been released and turned over for medical treatment, officer Karen Rayner said.

It's still unclear why the unnamed man chose to climb the 220-foot tower, though he seemed to be troubled.

“He was distraught,” Rayner explained. “It was deemed to be a medical issue.”

The man parked behind the police department’s personnel building just before 4 p.m. before ascending the tower.

Believed to be an Arizona resident in his 30s or 40s, the man began taking off his clothes as he climbed the structure, the L.A. Times reports.

He was eventually wrapped in a blanket and lowered to the ground in a basket at about 8:30 p.m.

Officer Rayner said that simply being naked may not always get you arrested but exposing oneself for sexual gratification would. This determination comes from Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich.

The man who climbed the tower would have been more likely to be arrested for trespassing, not for being naked, Rayner said.