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Paris love bridge padlocks towed away by authorities


If you are among the Kenyan couples who once made the “Locks of Love” while in Paris you will be shocked to hear what the authorities have done with your symbol of love.

Paris council officials have cut open the padlocks and towed away tons of them that were attached on the sides of the bridge.

According to the Daily Mail, city workmen, armed with bolt cutters, began unceremoniously cutting open the ‘love locks’ over fears that the sheer weight of the padlocks was putting the 19th century structure at risk.

“It is estimated there were over 700,000 padlocks attached to the bridge, built in the 1800s under Napoleon, with each grill weighing 500kg,” said the publication.

‘LOVE BRIDGE’

The popular “Love Bridge” Pont des Arts is over the French capital’s river Seine just in front of the Louvre museum and is known the world over for the padlock tradition.

Every year couples used to visit the tourist attraction site and lock a padlock at the bridge with their names written on it then throw the keys down the river Seine.

In June last year, the Paris lovers bridge was closed down for a day and visitors evacuated after 2.4 metres of railing collapsed under the weight of the padlocks.

Two of the city’s residents collected signatures for a petition that was calling for the removal of the locks as well as an end to the tradition claiming that the practice would consequently damage the bridge.