Two construction workers have been arrested after they destroyed a section of the Great Wall of China to create a shortcut to their worksite.
The 38-year-old man and 55-year-old woman were working near the affected area, the 32nd Great Wall, in the central Shanxi province.
Fed up with having to traverse the wall to use an opening further along – sections of the infrastructure have naturally decayed – the pair decided to create a “big gap” by widening an existing cavity.
Police said they wanted to reduce the distance they had to travel and create a space large enough to fit their excavator through.
They stressed that the pair had caused “irreversible damage to the integrity of the Ming Great Wall and to the safety of the cultural relics”. The two have since been detained and the case is under further investigation.
Officers were alerted to the damage on August 24 after receiving reports that there was a huge gap in the wall.
While Britons considering the Great Wall may picture sturdy structures dotted with old watchtowers – much of what visitors see today was constructed during the Ming Dynasty, which is referred to as the Ming Great Wall – certain older parts are crumbling or have disappeared altogether.
Some stretches of the wall have been damaged or demolished over the years, especially in remote rural areas.
A 2016 report from newspaper Beijing Times suggested only 8 per cent of the wall was considered well preserved while more than 30 per cent has disappeared entirely.
