Engineers inspect Washington National Cathedral

The same engineers who captivated tourists by rappelling down the Washington Monument are conducting a similar operation at the National Cathedral.

Two members of the team began rappelling down a 234-foot tower at the front of the cathedral Monday afternoon. The engineers are looking for damage caused by a 5.8-magnitude earthquake that shook the nation's capital on Aug. 23.

The cathedral also sustained damage during Hurricane Irene a few days later.

Last week, stone masons removed 2 tons of stonework from a pinnacle of the cathedral that had been damaged. Three of the four pinnacles on the central tower, which date to 1963, were severely damaged in the earthquake