<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b><i>Two people have been detained in northern China after allegedly damaging a section of the Great Wall with an excavator, according to local authorities.</i></b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>A 38-year-old man and 55-year-old women in Shanxi province were accused of digging through the Great Wall to create a shortcut for their construction work nearby, local police said in a statement.</div><div><br></div><div>They allegedly expanded an existing opening in the ancient structure into a wide gap large enough for their excavator to pass through to “save the distance of travel,” according to the statement.</div><div>Their excavation caused “irreversible” damage to the integrity and safety of that portion of the wall, the police said.</div><div><br></div><div>Police in Yuyou county detained the two suspects after receiving reports about the damage on August 24. The case is under further investigation, according to the statement.</div><div><br></div><div>The Great Wall, which acted as a key northern defense for successive Chinese Empires, has a total length of more than 20,000 kilometers (12,427 miles) and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.</div><div><br></div><div>Its earliest sections date back more than two thousand years and were later extended throughout China’s ancient dynasties.</div><div><br></div><div>The damage was inflicted on a section of the wall dating back to the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), known as the 32nd Great Wall. It is also home to a relatively well preserved watch tower and is listed as a provincial cultural relic.</div><div><br></div><div>Chinese authorities have in recent years stepped up protection of the Great Wall and cracked down on acts of vandalism.</div><div><br></div><div>In 2021, three visitors were detained and fined by police for scrawling on the famous Badaling section of wall with a sharp object.</div><div><br></div><div>Later that year, Chinese authorities banned two foreign tourists from the Great Wall after they trespassed onto an undeveloped part of the Mutianyu section of the wall. - CNN</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>