A screen shot shows a section of the Ming Great Wall in Youyu county, North China's Shanxi Province has been dug a huge breach by an excavator on September 4, 2023. From CCTV News

Two individuals have been arrested for "cutting off" a section of the Ming Great Wall, a provincial-level cultural relic which has significant protection and research value, by using an excavator in northern China.

The Thirty-Two Great Wall, which is the extension of the Ming Great Wall in Youyu county of North China's Shanxi Province, was found cut off with a huge breach on, local police received a public report on the afternoon of August 24 .

The Thirty-Two Great Wall has well-preserved border walls and beacon towers and takes its name from being home to the 32nd beacon tower where the Ming Great Wall enters Yuyu. 

A preliminarily investigation determined that the Great Wall was damaged by large-scale mechanical excavator. A man and a woman with an excavator were found in the neighboring county of Horinger in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

After interrogation, it was discovered that the 38-year-old man surnamed Zheng and 55-year-old woman surnamed Wang, both from Horinger were responsible for the damage to the Great Wall. While undertaking construction work near the Great Wall, the pair used the excavator to dig a breach from an original gap on the wall so that the excavator can pass through the wall to save time reaching their worksite.

Their actions have caused irreversible damage to the integrity of the Ming Great Wall and the safety of cultural relics, the two individuals have been criminally detained according to law. The case is subject to further investigation.

Global Times