Those hanging the love locks hope that those will be clinging to Paris’ famed Pont des Arts bridge would last forever. But unromantically the city council’s plan to dismantle them came out on Monday.
The padlocks, signed and locked by lovers on the metal grills on the bridge’s sides by lovers, are widely regarded as an eyesore on Paris’ beautiful bridge, which overlooks the Eiffel Tower.
The decision came after last summer, when the padlocks also became a symbol of danger after a chunk of fencing fell off under their weight.
The city council said this week that the several hundred thousand padlocks in places around Pariscause "long-term heritage degradation and a risk for visitors’ security."