Great Wall of China damaged ‘beyond repair’ by two trying to build a shortcut

Two people have been detained by the Chinese government for using an excavator to destroy a portion of the Great Wall of China. According to reports by global media outlets, a 38-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman have been detained after the government received a report in late August that a gap had been created in the famous China monument that is among the ‘Wonders of the World’. 

The accused pair reportedly intended to create a shortcut through the Ming-dynasty part of the Great Wall in Shanxi province in Northeastern China. The damage caused by the excavator has compromised the structural integrity of the particular portion of the wall, which was “beyond repair”, according to a report in state-owned newspaper China Daily.

The Great Wall of China was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987. It stretches a massive 4000 miles across China. The earliest portions of the Great Wall were built as early as the third century BC. The wall was built over several centuries.