BERLIN: German police caught two thieves breaking open "lovers' padlocks" attached to a bridge over the Rhine River in the city of Cologne.
The pair were cutting padlocks, left by amorous couples to symbolize their eternal love, off a railing on the Hohenzollern Bridge presumably to sell as scrap metal, police said.
"I spotted two men on the other side of the bridge tampering with the lovers' padlocks, so I called for back-up straight away," a police officer said. The men tried to escape with their loot after spotting police but were apprehended on the bridge.
Police discovered over 50 padlocks along with lock cutters in a trolley suitcase, wheeled along by the men. The pair will appear in court on charges of property damage, police said.
Love-struck couples have been fastening padlocks to railings of bridges, engraving them with their initials or adding a few sentimental words and then tossing the keys into the rivers below to symbolize their eternal love. (Reuters)
The pair were cutting padlocks, left by amorous couples to symbolize their eternal love, off a railing on the Hohenzollern Bridge presumably to sell as scrap metal, police said.
"I spotted two men on the other side of the bridge tampering with the lovers' padlocks, so I called for back-up straight away," a police officer said. The men tried to escape with their loot after spotting police but were apprehended on the bridge.
Police discovered over 50 padlocks along with lock cutters in a trolley suitcase, wheeled along by the men. The pair will appear in court on charges of property damage, police said.
Love-struck couples have been fastening padlocks to railings of bridges, engraving them with their initials or adding a few sentimental words and then tossing the keys into the rivers below to symbolize their eternal love. (Reuters)
