Great Wall of China: Two people arrested on charges of damaging cultural relics using an excavator

CNN
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Chinese authorities arrested two people in northern China after they damaged a section of the Great Wall of China with an excavator.

A 38-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman were accused of digging through the Great Wall of China to create a shortcut for their construction work nearby, local police in Shanxi province said. statement.

They allegedly enlarged an existing opening in the old structure into a wide gap large enough for their excavator to pass through “to provide travel distance,” according to the release.

Police said their excavation work caused “irreparable” damage to the safety and integrity of that section of the wall.

Police in Yoyo County arrested the two suspects after receiving reports of damage on August 24. According to the statement, the case is under further investigation.

The Great Wall of China, which served as a major northern defense for successive Chinese empires, is more than 20,000 kilometers (12,427 miles) long and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

Its oldest sections date back more than two thousand years and were later expanded through the ancient Chinese dynasties.

The damage occurred on a section of the wall dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), known as the Thirty-Second Great Wall. It is also home to a relatively well-preserved watchtower, and is listed as a regional cultural relic.

In recent years, the Chinese authorities have intensified protection of the Great Wall of China and taken strict measures against acts of sabotage.

In 2021, police arrested three visitors and fined them for scribbling on the famous Badaling section of the wall with a sharp object.

Later that year, Chinese authorities banned two foreign tourists from entering the Great Wall after they trespassed on an undeveloped portion of the Mutianyu section of the wall.