A recent social media post by Grand Canyon National Park about so-called “love locks” got a lot of attention in recent days.
Love locks are padlocks often hung from a metal fence, usually bearing a couple’s name or initials, with the key then thrown into a nearby lake or river — symbolizing unbroken love.
The folks at the Grand Canyon are telling visitors to stop it — partly because it’s littering, but chiefly because such actions are potentially harmful to the critically endangered California condor.
Here’s the park’s Facebook post:
The Grand Canyon’s post was picked up by a lot of media outlets, including CNN, the New York Times and USA Today.
Love locks are in a lot of places, but they gained notoriety at the Pont des Arts bridge in Paris. The thousands of accumulated locks were so heavy, they were compromising the structural integrity of the bridge.
Those 700,000 locks were removed in 2015, and glass shields were added to keep visitors from adding new locks.
Grand Canyon National Park sits about 60 miles north of Route 66 and Williams, Arizona, but it remains a popular side trip for Route 66 travelers.
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