Paris, which may or may not have been the first city to suffer from so-called ‘Love Locks’ attached to its bridges and monuments is certainly the first to try to put them to good use: it will sell them off online to raise funds to aid refugees.
The world-wide craze for proving a couple’s love by locking it onto a railing has already caused Paris to repair damage to a bridge whose railing broke, and to install new lock-proof railings, has not stopped. As one location becomes impossible, the intrepid love vandals find another.
In the past 18 months, the city has removed over 1 million locks, weighing over 65 tonnes. The city will begin selling them as memorabilia next year, according to First Deputy Mayor Bruno Julliard. “Members of the public can buy five or 10 locks, or even clusters of them, all at an affordable price. All of the proceeds will be given to those who work in support and in solidarity of the refugees in Paris.”
The initial sale involves about 10 tonnes of locks (about 22,000 pounds); depending on the market, more may be sold this way, or the unsold locks will be melted for scrap to aid the campaign. The city hopes to raise €100,000.
