‘Irreversible damage’ done to Great Wall of China by workers looking for shortcut: police

globalnews.ca:

Great Wall of China was destroyed with an excavator.A release from the Youyu County Public Security Bureau states a 55-year-old man and 38-year-old woman were working at a construction site nearby and wanted to reduce the distance they had to travel with the excavator to get to the work site.They allegedly used the machine to enlarge a gap in the Great Wall that already existed so it was large enough for the excavator to pass through.In doing so, the pair caused “irreversible damage” to that section of the Great Wall, which dates back to the Ming Dynasty, local police said. The Ming Dynasty lasted from 1368 to 1644 but some portions of the Great Wall are more than 2,000 years old.Police learned of the damage to the Great Wall on Aug.

24 after they received a report about a large gap. A preliminary investigation concluded that the wall had been dug out with heavy machinery.

Police patrolled the area and eventually found the man and woman with an excavator in a neighbouring county.The pair have been detained as the investigation continues. Their names have not been released by officials, though police say the man’s surname is Zheng and the woman’s surname is Wang.

Both are from Horinger county in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China.According to China Daily, the pair admitted to using the excavator on the Great Wall. They have been charged with destroying a cultural relic.The section of the ancient site that was damaged is near a Ming Dynasty beacon tower that is relatively well-preserved, though police worry that the excavation will threaten the wall’s integrity.