RINGS ON EIFFEL TOWER 'A MISTAKE'

Don't make icon an 'advertising outpost', say opponents of efforts to keep Olympic logo

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Plans by Paris' mayor to keep the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower have been condemned by designer Gustave Eiffel's descendants and provoked a backlash from some Parisians.

The giant logo was a popular backdrop for selfies by visitors to the French capital during the July 26-Aug 11 Olympic Games, which were widely hailed as a triumph.

Mayor Anne Hidalgo then announced on Aug 31 that she intended to take down the interlocking rings, which are too heavy to remain on the beloved monument, but replace them with new lighter versions.

"It does not seem appropriate to us that the Eiffel Tower, which has become the symbol of Paris and the whole of France since its construction 135 years ago, has the symbol of an outside organisation added to it in a permanent way, whatever its prestige," a statement from the Association of Gustave Eiffel's Descendants said.

The association's chairman Olivier Berthelot-Eiffel, a great-greatgrandson of Eiffel, told AFP that his family did not see any problem with the rings staying "just a little longer" than the Paralympic Games which wrap up on Sept 8.