The issue of President Ma Ying-jeou's personal safety has come under public scrutiny following news reports Tuesday that an unidentified woman had intruded into the Presidential Office building recently. Ma, who was out of the country on a Central American tour on the day of the intrusion, immediately called a meeting upon his return to get to the bottom of the matter and instructed that those responsible for the security lapse be penalized, Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi told a news conference the same day. According to Wang, the woman sneaked into the Presidential Office building June 30 from the No. 4 entrance without being noticed by security guards and took an elevator to the fifth floor where the office of the National Security Council (NSC) is located. As the woman was acting suspiciously and asking strange questions, NSC officials discerned that she was not an NSC staffer and asked the security guards to take her downstairs, Wang said. The woman was detained and questioned briefly by Presidential Office security then was released, he added. Several security guards who were on duty at the office June 30 were penalized after they admitted to dereliction of duty, and their superiors also received various levels of demerits, he said. The case has highlighted the need to maintain sharp vigilance at the building, according to Wang. 'The incident serves as a warning that security at the Presidential Office needs to be bolstered,' he said. Police data shows that the woman has since 1996 been seen several times in the vicinity of the Presidential Office and has submitted 65 incoherent appeals to the office, according to Wang. In view of concerns that the incident could have threatened the president's personal safety, military police authorities also convened a meeting to examine the incident, he said. The issue of Ma's personal safety has been in the spotlight as there have been several incidents related to security lapses since he took office last year. Last week, air conditioning equipment worth more than NT$1 million (US$30,000) at Ma's official residence was found to have been thrown away by workers who mistook it for junk during renovations at the presidential residence last year before Ma moved in. At first, police thought the equipment had been stolen. The incident raised public questions about security at the president's official residence. In March, lawmakers from ruling and opposition parties also questioned why the construction of a luxury residential tower had been permitted at a site in front of the presidential residence. At the time, the National Security Bureau said that it was not in a position to comment on the matter as the 23-story building was not being built in a restricted area, but it promised to step up security in the neighborhood. 