Toddler who crawled through White House fence removed by Secret Services

A "curious" toddler earned the title of one of the tiniest White House intruders after he crawled through the building's metal fencing.

US Secret Service Uniformed Division officers, who are responsible for security at the White House, walked across the North Lawn to retrieve the child and reunite him with his parents on Pennsylvania Avenue on Tuesday.

Access to the complex was briefly restricted while officers captured the tot and gave him back to his mother and father, who were then briefly questioned before the family was allowed to continue on their way.

Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said officers “encountered a curious young visitor along the White House north fence line who briefly entered White House grounds.”

“The White House security systems instantly triggered Secret Service officers and the toddler and parents were quickly reunited,” he said in a statement.

It may be the first successful intrusion onto the complex since the White House fence was doubled in height to roughly 13 feet (3.96-metres) in recent years after a series of security breaches.

While it is taller, the new fence has an additional inch of space between the pickets - a total of 5.5 inches (12.7 centimeters).

However, it is not the first time a toddler has crawled through the White House fence.

There was a similar incident in 2014 when one squeezed through the posts just before then-President Barack Obama was about to address the nation on Iraq, according to CNN.

The breach prompted a temporary lockdown and delayed Obama's briefing.

Older children have sometimes gotten stuck in the barrier, which has also been the scene of demonstrations with protesters chaining themselves to the fence.

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