Love locks create some debate; some hate them and some love them.
The idea is to symbolise a couples eternal love. Some don’t like the idea and would argue that they find it a symbol of oppression.
My personal opinion is that these love locks are simply a modern version of carving yours and your lovers initials or name into a tree or an old park bench. Is that romantic or just a simple act of vandalism?
Some cities remove the love locks and others just leave them alone. There are arguments that they are a form of vandalism and I have read articles suggesting the extra weight causes structural problems to these fences and bridges.
I can definitely understand removing locks if they are causing damage or weakness to structures and also when they are placed on beautiful or ornate bridges but on a recent visit to Köln (Cologne) we walked across a love lock bridge that crossed The Rhine; I think they added to the aesthetics of what would be a boring mesh pale green fence.
Love locks on a pedestrian and rail bridge in Köln crossing The River Rhine.
Spotted a young couple attaching a lock as I approached.
Young couple throwing love lock keys into The River Rhine. Cologne. November 2014.
All images taken candidly at a much higher ISO than I would have preferred but using a flash would have alerted the couple that they were being photographed. I did approach them after and emailed them the images yesterday evening.
I wish them luck for their future.
Thanks for stopping.
Jim Jimmy James
jim-jimmy-james 
I had never seen these until images began to appear on the Internet. Does it happen here too Jimmy? Seems like a nice thing to me, as long as it doesn’t cause any accidents!
Cheers mate, Pete.
I’ve seen one or two scattered about but I think London is just one of those places they get removed.
Some other cities really go for it.