A district government in Yulin, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province has ordered restoration work at a key site of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall halted after receiving reports from residents that the work has violated regulations and damaged the ancient site.

Many Chinese have called restoration work at the Ming Dynasty Great Wall "savage work," after seeing construction workers use their shovels on the ancient wall, with bricks falling around, thepaper.cn reported Wednesday.

No protective measures are used in the construction work along the wall, The Beijing News reported on Wednesday, citing a netizen's question, "Is it for repairs or to damage?"

Government of Hengshan district in Yulin said that the restoration work will be immediately suspended and local authorities have taken measures to protect the wall.

The local cultural relic management department and construction personnel have been punished, said the district government.

It also vowed to improve supervision to guarantee the wall's safety.

That portion of the wall is part of a thousand-year-old Boluo castle, which is 25 kilometers northeast of Hengshan county, in Shaanxi Province.

Boluo is a Buddhist term, which literally means "reach the other side" in Sanskrit. Boluo castle is one of the 36 key pass castles of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall.

Built during the Sui Dynasty (581-618), the castle has been around for over 1,400 years.

The castle was once an important political, economic and cultural center at its peak, and was regarded as "little Beijing."

In 1992, the castle was listed as one of the province-level cultural relic protection units.