The Eiffel family fights against the Olympic rings remaining on the Paris tower

The descendants of the Eiffel Tower builder want to prevent the Olympic rings from remaining on the tower, contrary to the plans of the Paris mayor.

The family of legendary engineer Gustave Eiffel said they were “against any change that negatively affects respect for the work” of their ancestor, adding that they had already consulted lawyers to prevent the change.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo plans to keep the giant, colorful rings that were attached to the “Dame de Fer” (“Iron Lady”) at the Paris Olympics until at least 2028, when the next Games will be held in Los Angeles.

However, the descendants argued that the symbol was “colorful and large, placed on the main access road to the tower, and caused a strong imbalance” in the shape of the tower and “significantly altered the very pure forms of the monument.”

Leaving the rings there would “run counter to the neutrality and importance that the Eiffel Tower has acquired over the years and which has become a symbol of the city of Paris and even of all of France worldwide,” the family association AGDE said in a statement on Sunday.

They suggest that the rings should only remain in place until “the end of 2024, the end of the Olympic year.”

The 330-meter-high Eiffel Tower was completed in 1889 for the Paris World Exhibition and was originally only supposed to stand for 20 years. It is owned by the city of Paris.

According to the building's website, it is the most visited monument in the world. Around seven million people come here every year – about three quarters of them from abroad.

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