Pont Des Arts Love Locks collapse happened Sunday as a metal grill filled with padlocks collapsed onto the footbridge walkway over the Seine in central Paris. Because of the Pont Des Arts Love Locks collapse which resulted from padlocks left by thousands of couples, the bridge was reportedly closed for a few hours.

Because of the Pont Des Arts Love Locks collapse, tourists have been asked to evacuate from the bridge as it started collapsing because of the weight of thousands of 'love locks'. During the Pont Des Arts Love Locks collapse, a huge area of the bridge reportedly fell away and police even had to seal the area.

According to Reuters, padlocks started their appearance on Paris bridges and other European cities only more than five years ago. The padlocks, as seen to be the cause of the Pont Des Arts Love Locks collapse, were left by couples who were in the quest of symbolizing their enduring love. The padlocks were usually adorned with the couples' names and permanently locked onto the metal grill, while the keys are typically just thrown into the river under the bridge.

Fortunately, nobody got hurt by the Pont Des Arts Love Locks collapse incident, as told by a city official to the French media on Monday. The official also said that after the Pont Des Arts Love Locks collapse, the bridge has now been reopened and the two grills filled with the padlocks had been temporarily replaced with wooden panels.

A French police spokesperson from the locality said about the Pont Des Arts Love Locks collapse, "A metal grille had fallen inwards, rather than into the river. If it had landed on a passing boat, the results could have been disastrous. As it happened, nobody was injured. The bridge was evacuated, and will now be closed until Monday morning at the earliest."

NBC News reports that a tweet was posted on the city's official web site regarding the Pont Des Arts Love Locks collapse incident. The city's elected head of cultural affairs, Bruno Juillard, tweeted that the Pont Des Arts Love Locks collapse incident only "confirms that our desire to find an alternative to these locks is a real necessity."

According to NBC News, several Paris bridges views, including the central Pont des Arts, has had railings which disappeared behind hundreds of padlocks hanging on them.

Meanwhile, Paris authorities have reportedly been facing calls telling them to stop the practice entirely due to aesthetic grounds. However, they have been hesitant on implementing stiffer rules as it could possibly affect Paris' tourism and its reputation all over the world as a city of love.

To address this problem and prior to the Pont Des Arts Love Locks collapse, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has invited citizens last month to "open a debate around the phenomenon of 'love locks' with a view to finding alternatives".

Pont Des Arts Love Locks collapse came after a 'Not Love Locks' campaign has been launched in the city in February by two Americans. According to The Daily Mail, this was done in response to about 700,000 padlocks which appeared around the city. Though all bridges have reportedly been shattered due to the practice, the Pont des Arts just looks like two solid walls of metal separated by a wooden walkway.