Over the years, fans of the Irish-born writer Oscar Wilde had developed a tradition of paying tribute to the scribe by placing a kiss upon the statue that marks his grave in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, damaging the stone and leaving behind many greasy marks from lipstick.
In honor of the 111th anniversary of Wilde’s death, authorities have carefully cleaned and restored the monument, placing it behind a glass screen to protect it from visitors’ kisses.
The author – who rose to prominence in the 1880s and 1890s with such classics as The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest – moved to Paris in 1897, as part of a self-imposed exile after serving two years in prison for what the Victorian era deemed "gross indecency" due to his sexual orientation.
Donald Mead, Chairman of the Oscar Wilde Society, hopes that the glass screen will force visitors to get more creative about finding less destructive ways to pay tribute to the writer’s genius.
"It has reached the point of no return really," he explained to CNN. "There has been wanton vandalism, destruction. Now the screen is up, hopefully people will go and look, and if they feel the need to do something, they will leave a note, or some flowers – there’s no harm in that."