CNN –
Two people were arrested in northern China after they allegedly damaged a section of the Great Wall of China with an excavator, according to local authorities.
A 38-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman in Shanxi province have been accused of digging through the Great Wall of China to create a shortcut for their construction work nearby, local police said in a statement.
They allegedly expanded an existing opening in the ancient structure into a wide gap large enough for their excavator to pass through to “save travel distance,” the statement said.
Their excavation caused “irreversible” damage to the integrity and security of that part of the wall, police said.
Police in Yuyou County arrested the two suspects after receiving reports of the damage on August 24. The case is currently under further investigation, the statement said.
The Great Wall of China, which served as a key northern defense for successive Chinese empires, has a total length of more than 20,000 kilometers (12,427 miles) and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
Its earliest sections date back more than two thousand years and were later extended throughout the ancient dynasties of China.
The damage was caused to a section of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) wall known as the 32nd Great Wall. It also houses a relatively well-preserved watchtower and stands as a cultural relic of the province.
Chinese authorities have increased protection of the Great Wall of China in recent years and cracked down on vandalism.
In 2021, three visitors were arrested and fined by police for scribbling on the famous Badaling wall section with a sharp object.
Later that year, Chinese authorities banned two foreign tourists from entering the Great Wall of China after they entered an undeveloped section of the Mutianyu section of the wall.