# Memorial tributes, and what happens to them. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 23, 2016, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memorial-tributes-and-what-happens-to-them/760670 "2016-07-23T12:27:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2016, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memorial-tributes-and-what-happens-to-them/760670/1 "2016-07-23T12:27:29Z")
This is about the thread concerning what happens to tributes left at memorials. > **[What happens to fan-made tributes left at celebrity memorials?](https://www.straightdope.com/21344391/what-happens-to-fan-made-tributes-left-at-celebrity-memorials)** I was in Oklahoma City for a science fiction convention, some time after the bombing of the Murragh Federal building. At this time the ruins of the building had been demolished and the ground was being leveled in order to build the permaneant memorial park Around the work site there was a very tall chain link fence, and people were leaving stuff on it. I saw pictures, key chains, poems, teddy bears, and even a small Jayhawk toy left by the University of Kansas basketball team. They’d been in town to play a game. Does anyone know what became of that stuff? Was it thrown out, or was at least a selection kept for the new memorial? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2016, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memorial-tributes-and-what-happens-to-them/760670/2 "2016-07-23T12:55:18Z")
You can contact these people and find out: [https://oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/](https://oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2016, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memorial-tributes-and-what-happens-to-them/760670/3 "2016-07-23T14:15:28Z")
:smack: I should have thought that a place like that would have a website. Thanks for the heads up. I’ve gone there and found out that at least a portion of the fence was preserved. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2016, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memorial-tributes-and-what-happens-to-them/760670/4 "2016-07-24T01:16:57Z")
Not exactly a memorial tribute but related a bit. That fence in Paris, the one where people will put a padlock on it, then throw the key into the river. Does the city have to go through periodically and cut those locks off? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2016, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memorial-tributes-and-what-happens-to-them/760670/5 "2016-07-24T03:13:32Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Not exactly a memorial tribute but related a bit. That fence in Paris, the one where people will put a padlock on it, then throw the key into the river. Does the city have to go through periodically and cut those locks off? [They do now.](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/01/pont-des-artes-love-locks-removed-after-parisians-fall-out-of-love-with-eyesore) At one point there were so many that they became worried about the stability of the bridge. And they’re trying to figure out what they can put on the bridge to keep any more from being attached. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2016, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memorial-tributes-and-what-happens-to-them/760670/6 "2016-07-24T10:53:45Z")
Wow! I didn’t know there were that many locks. Should have guessed though. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2016, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memorial-tributes-and-what-happens-to-them/760670/7 "2016-07-24T23:44:56Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > That fence in Paris, the one where people will put a padlock on it, then throw the key into the river. I took my girlfriend there once but I wasn’t sure if it was going to work out so I used a combination lock. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2016, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memorial-tributes-and-what-happens-to-them/760670/8 "2016-07-25T01:19:08Z")
Phew. I was briefly afraid you were going to say “… so I threw her into the river.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memorial-tributes-and-what-happens-to-them/760670/9 "2016-07-25T02:13:55Z")
It actually started somewhere or other in Yugoslavia, and then moved to other bridges.