Italy's iconic 'Lovers' Arch' collapses into the sea on Valentine's Day
The local mayor insisted the incident was "an unwanted Valentine's Day gift"
An iconic Italian cliff formation known as the 'Lovers' Arch' that attracted tourists from around the globe was seen to collapse into the sea on Valentine's Day.
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The sea stacks, located in Sant'Andrea, close to the town of Melendugno in the southern region of Puglia, have long been a picturesque tourist attraction favoured by the masses.
But on Saturday, the famous arch was pictured intact for the final time, with the landmark seen to collapse into the see after hundreds of years.
"This is an unwanted Valentine's Day gift", Melendugno Mayor Maurizio Cisternino told local media.
He added that it was "a very hard blow" for the region - notably in terms of tourism.
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The Salento region, home to the local landmark, has become one of Italy's most popular tourist areas.
"Nature as it created the bow, has taken it back", the mayor added.
The collapse has been blamed on severe weather, with local officials blaming a regional storm named Oriana which has battered the Italian coast in recent days, resulting in cliff damage and coastal erosion.
"We have lost one of our region's defining characteristics, a symbolic asset," Puglia's regional president, Antonio Decaro, told reporters at the site on Monday.
"Unfortunately, natural processes are often accelerated by meteorological phenomena, such as the tail end of storm Oriana", he said.
Officials have now warned that further destruction will likely be seen along the coast in the wake of the structure's initial collapse.
It's the latest section of coastline to succumb to coastal erosion, after a large section of cliff collapse closed the South West Coast Path.