Photo by M_Hamad.

Or at least love in the form of a lock attached to a bridge.

The District Department of Transportation will begin removing so-called “love locks,” which are usually engraved with the two names or initials of lovebirds, from the Key Bridge today.

“Locks are being removed because we don’t want to establish a precedence where our structures could become polluted with these types of campaigns,” D.C. Department of Transportation spokesman Reggie Sanders told WTOP. DCist emailed DDOT to see what will become of the locks. We’re guessing these small public symbols of everlasting love will become garbage, which seems about right.

ARLNow was the first site to notice the appearance of about 45 locks on the Key Bridge this summer. Here’s hoping Tina & Jacob, Alex & Andi, Shayna & Gregory and all the other couples whose love locks will be clipped off find a new way to make a public declaration of love.