The love lock bridge in Paris went down. Kapoot. Gone. It just collapsed.

A five foot piece of art that seems to be all our fault.

I visit le Pont des Arts each time I’m in Paris. This is the epicentre of romance in Paris. Where countless proposals, romantic first kisses, and new couples seal their fate.

More than 1600 love locks are chained and tangled to this iron bridge. The unbreakable bond of the padlocks is supposed to symbolize the unbreakable bond of each and every couple that walked through here.

When I travel with Dan, we always pack a padlock in our suitcase. So far, we’ve locked one in Barcelona, Lisbon, Prague, Madrid and Budapest. We have an understanding most people find not normal.  I don’t buy him gifts. He doesn’t shower me with flowers. Instead, we chain our love to bridges like these around the world, including Paris. So I feel partially responsible for the fate of le Pont des Arts. We are just one of many couples who have passed through the City of Love to lock our fate on this very bridge.

Couples like us don’t mean for this to happen. We know locking padlocks and throwing away the key may not be eco-friendly. The Seine River has been polluted with thousands of metal keys dumped from the bridge since 2008, and sometimes the graffiti on the bridge can be less than appealing. But we actually think the act of locking our fate beautifies this place and adds to the romantic charm of the most romantic city in the world.

Two bloggers have actually started a petition. They say the bridge is tacky and vandal. They’re fighting to ban love locks for good and have even started a “No Love Locks” campaign.

I won’t hyperlink to it but if you really want to sign the petition, it’s nolovelocks.com.

I refuse to sign my name. Maybe we could just stop dumping our keys into the river? Maybe we should blame graffiti culprits instead, not romantic couples in love?

I don’t see this bridge as tacky. I see it as a bridge with thousands of scribbled, mangled, weathered, locks each with its own story to tell.

Do you think love locks are romantic or tacky?