Female fans of Oscar Wilde will soon have to find a new way to remember the eccentric playwright. That’s because officials at Paris‘s famed Pere Lachaise Cemetery are putting the kibosh on kissing Wilde’s tomb.

Since the mid 1990s, women have been kissing the tomb while wearing red lipstick, a practice the hedonistic Wilde would no doubt adore. While no one is quite sure how the ceremonial smooching started, it has become a cult tradition for literary fanatics arriving on flights to Paris.

But the physical toll on the tomb has proven too much. Regular cleanings have left the stone heavily damaged and in danger of complete disrepair.

Though there is already a steep fine in place for kissing the monument, the rule has proven difficult to enforce. Officials now plan to install a glass pane at the tomb to put an end to the lipstick love once and for all.

Source: Huffington Post

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