Mystery of disappearing love padlocks in Tampere remains unsolved

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Dark deeds in Tampere.
      A large number - possibly even in the hundreds - of so-called "love padlocks" affixed to the bridge crossing the Tammerkoski river dam have disappeared, which has surprised and confused people in the city.
      The disappearance of the locks was noticed earlier this week, and the matter has been already reported at least by YLE Tampere (the Finnish Broadcasting Company’s Tampere newsdesk) and the late-edition tabloid Ilta-Sanomat. However, even the publicity has not managed to resolve the mystery.
      Whoever has been liberating the lovers' padlocks has not been brought to book.
     
”It cannot be a prank by tech students, as the 1st of May [synonymous with student japes] was already seven weeks ago”, says Tommi Rasila, Managing Director of the Tampere Chamber of Commerce.
      ”Maybe this is just a stunt pulled off by some anti-everything association”, he adds.
     
Such love padlocks have been fastened to the bridge for many years, but nowadays, love padlocks have also served as tools of charity and fundraising drives, in which for example the City of Tampere itself has been involved.


Links:
  Love padlocks (Wikipedia)

Helsingin Sanomat