The city of Gimhae in South Gyeongsang Province was found to have seriously damaged a dolmen in the city's district of Gusan in the process of restoring it.

The Cultural Heritage Administration said on Wednesday that its inspection held last week found traces of damage to the dolmen, regarded to be the largest in the world.

The cultural agency said it plans to file a complaint with the police against the Gimhae mayor for violating the law protecting buried cultural assets.

Under the law, the act of damaging a buried cultural asset that is being excavated can be subject to a penalty of up to ten years in prison or a fine of up to 100 million won.

Gimhae came under fire after it removed flat stones labeling graveyards without prior permission or consultation in the process of carrying out maintenance on the dolmen.

During its inspection, the cultural agency found that some of the occupation layers around the dolmen were destroyed or washed away due to drilling work and poorly installed facilities adjacent to the site.

Gimhae began restoration work in December 2020 for the megalithic tomb that was discovered in 2006 during a land development project.