Two construction workers have destroyed a section of the Great Wall of China in the central Shanxi province, northern China, according to Chinese authorities.
Police in the region explained that the two workers, a 38-year-old man and 55-year-old woman, were trying to create a shortcut for their construction work, the Youyu County Public Security Bureau confirmed.
Police said they dug a gap in an already existing hole in the Great Wall so they could pass through easily.
It is understood that they were working in the 32nd Great Wall area and have caused “irreversible damage to the integrity of the Ming Great Wall and the safety of cultural relics”.
Both the workers have been arrested and an investigation is under way.
“August 24 at about 4.20pm, the command centre of the County Public Security Bureau received an alarm saying that a gap had been dug in the Thirty-Two Great Wall in Yang Qianhe Township.
“After inspecting the traces on the scene, the police initially determined that the ancient Great Wall was damaged due to excavation by large machinery. Subsequently, the police patrolled the line and found an excavator and a man and a woman in neighbouring counties and Lingeer County,” Youyu County said.
Authorities said the two suspects are from Helinger, Inner Mongolia.
The Ming Great Wall of China was declared a Unesco world heritage site in 1987 and is said to have been built over a long period of time, reportedly between 220 BC until the Ming Dynasty in the 1600s.
It is said to be the greatest military structure ever built.
IOL