The Olympic rings that have adorned the Eiffel Tower since June were removed early Friday, although the Paris City Hall hopes to replace them with a more permanent structure until 2028.
The iconic five-coloured rings – 29 metres long and 15 metres high – were placed between the first and first floors of the iron structure of the Eiffel Tower on 7 June ahead of the Paris Olympics this summer.
Since the end of the Games, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, has repeated her wish to keep the Olympic symbols on the monument until the opening of the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
However, the descendants of Gustave Eiffel have rejected the idea, insisting the rings are aesthetically in conflict with the concept and design of the Tower.
The 30-tonne rings initially installed on the Eiffel Tower were also not designed to withstand winter weather conditions.
Plan to install 'lighter rings'
The City of Paris and the International Olympic Committee – as respective owners of the Eiffel Tower and the Olympic logo – say they are working on new, lighter and more durable rings.
Pending the installation of the new structure, smaller rings were hung from the Iéna Bridge, located just in front of the historic monument.
Hidalgo's plan to keep the rings in place until 2028 has met with strong criticism from heritage campaigners – as well as Eiffel's descendants – who believe that keeping the Olympic logo would be an affront on the 135-year-old tower, which they say was not designed to display "an advertising sign".
