Paris has no love for locks
The passion padlocks, left by tourists, will be removed from a bridge
PARIS— Paris is readyto break off its affair with love locks.
In a decision likely to cause heartbreak only among romantic tourists, city officials plan to toss out the tens of thousands of locks that festoon the Pont des Arts footbridge and other monuments in the French capital.
The display of love locks, which has gone on for years and takes place in major cities around the world, involves couples declaring their undying love by putting their names or initials on a padlock, attaching it to a monument and throwing away the keys, often into a river. In Paris, that means the Seine.
Municipal officials, reluctant to be seen as kill-joys, for some time had turned a blind eye to the soaring number of locks. But the weight and danger became too much. Last year, a 5-foot section of the historic Pont des Arts parapet collapsed.
“This phenomenon generates two problems: a lasting degradation of the heritage of Paris and also a risk to the safety of visitors, Parisians and tourists,” City Hall officials said in a statement announcing that workers would begin cutting off the locks Monday.
The weight of the locks is estimated at 45 tons. The metal railings of the Pont des Arts are to be covered with padlock-proof glass panels that are easy to clean of graffiti.
Lisa Anselmo, one of two U.S.-born women who have led a campaign against the love locks, said she was thrilled by the decision.
“I hope this is the beginning of the end for this destructive trend,” Anselmo told journalists.
Paris authorities had first tried asking nicely for tourists and others to refrain from attaching locks.
But love appeared to be deaf aswell as blind, and city officials acknowledged that a campaign to persuade couples to instead take selfies and post their “love lock” on the Internet had not been successful.