The group said the poster offended religious sensitivities by associating "the symbol of absolute hatred and the symbol of absolute love".

BBC: Catholics urge film poster ban

The origin of the practice is unclear - padlocks have appeared in China for years at sacred sites, and there was a flurry of padlocking in the Hungarian town of Pecs in the 1980s, when university students locked them on a bridge next to the university either as a symbol of undying love or their determination to finish their courses.

BBC: Locks say I love you

At the height of her career, she and Casablanca Records created a sex symbol persona for her, and in an October 1977 cover story for Ebony, she remarked about her other nicknames: Queen of Love and Symbol of Eros.

CNN: SHARE THIS

Hummer, the off-road vehicle that once was a symbol of America's love for hulking trucks, is now in the hands of a Chinese heavy equipment maker.

NPR: GM Sells Hummer Brand To Chinese Company

Heidi is a national symbol, representing the feisty spirit of the mountain people and the Swiss love of nature.

BBC: Peace moves in Heidi wars

For much of the 70s and 80s Agnelli was also the symbol of Italian manhood: he was married to a princess, but his love affairs were never kept secret.

CNN: Agnelli: The playboy industrialist