‘Love locks,’ padlocks attached to fences, bridges, monuments and more as symbols of a loving relationship are getting no love from rangers at Grand Canyon National Park, where they have become a serious problem.
The park’s Facebook page tells visitors “Love is strong, but it is not as strong as our bolt cutters. People think putting a lock on fencing at viewpoints is a great way to show love for another person. It’s not. Leaving padlocks like this is littering and a form of graffiti.”
Aside from any aspect of visual pollution at the natural site, the practice is a danger for wildlife, especially birds who are attracted to the shiny tossed-away keys, which they often swallow, and can’t digest or eliminate. Condors in the area are especially prone to death by discarded keys and coins.
