Rome has long been a gathering place for smitten couples who hope to seal their love by clipping a padlock onto the Ponte Milvio, and throwing away the key.
This symbol of unbreakable love has cast a romantic glow over the aptly named Eternal City for the past six years, after first being inspired by the 2006 novel Ho Voglia Di Te (I Want You).
The novel saw the central characters place a bicycle lock around a lamppost on the bridge to prove their undying love for each other.
Now it seems that the hopes and wishes of thousands of lovers may never be realised after the city council’s announcement that the locks are being removed with bolt-cutters over fears that rust will cause irreversible damage to the stone structure.
Have a look at our gallery of love locks.
Federico Moccia, author of the Ho Voglia Di Te, is among those who are completely bemused by the move.
Writing in the daily newspaper Il Tempo late last year, he asked: “With all the problems that Rome faces, is it really that important to cut off the padlocks?”
The fate of the bridge, which dates back to 206BC, also attracted controversy in 2007 when a lamppost on the bridge collapsed under the weight of the locks.
In the same year, the mayor of Rome introduced a €50 (about £40) fine for anyone caught fixing a padlock to the bridge, no doubt stopping the flourishes of young love in its tracks.
Those who have voiced their opposition to the craze have argued that permanent damage could be inflicted on the historic crossing point.
While some may fear that the end of the Ponte Milvio love locks could signal the death of romance itself, the phenomenon is still alive and well in other parts of Italy, as well as cities across Central and Eastern Europe.
In Paris, for example, couples can express their enduring love by affixing a padlock to the Pont des Arts, the footbridge that crosses the Seine from the Left Bank to the Louvre.
If visitors are still determined to head to Rome to get their love fix, then tossing three coins into the Trevi fountain should ensure that they will return to the city; hopefully this time to be met with more romantically-minded officials.
(Images: sunshinecity, kvanhorn, kvanhorn)
