Lovelocked: Paris cuts loose thousands of ‘eternal’ hearts on a sagging bridge

Paris, the city of romance, began the heart-breaking process of removing tens of thousands of “love-locks”, padlocks chained to the city’s bridges by love-struck couples on Monday. Yellow-vested officials were out early on the city’s iconic Pont des Arts, wielding cutting equipment to free the padlocks while a handful of curious tourists looked on. Loved-up visitors from around the world have for years written their name on padlocks to symbolise their passion, then tossed the key into the River Seine so that nothing could ever break the bond. Or at least, that’s what they thought.

We will remove nearly one million padlocks, or 45 tonnes.

City official Bruno Julliard

Last year police hurriedly ushered tourists off the Pont des Arts when a section of the footbridge collapsed under the weight of the locks covering the 155m-long bridge. Plastic panels were put up in places to deter lovebirds and authorities launched a drive to get tourists to upload selfies instead of attaching a lock. But nothing stands in the way of true love, and tourists have kept piling the locks on the bridge and elsewhere, forcing authorities to take drastic measures.

Pont des arts Europe