Love locks that couples place on Paris’ famous Pont des Arts footbridge as a symbol of their “eternal love” will be no more as authorities began removing the many locks on Monday.
Thousands of people from all over gather on the bridge to attach the padlocks and throw the keys in river below representing their lasting love for one another. But, as the Huffington Post reported, those locks have also caused lasting damage to the bridge.
While some are sad to see the locks go, many Parisians have campaigned against them for years and said that they are an eyesore to the bridge. The sheer weight of all the locks, which is around 45 tons, caused a portion of the bridge to collapse last year and left authorities no choice but to remove them for safety reasons.
"It's the end of the padlocks," declared Paris' Deputy Mayor Bruno Julliard when city workers began their task Monday.
BBC noted that the bridge’s rails that held the locks will now be replaced with plexiglass.
The padlocks-bridge phenomenon has actually appeared on other structures around the world but none held quite as many as the Pont des Arts.
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