Eiffel Tower evacuated after man tries to scale it, monument closed for visitors

The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, was evacuated on Monday afternoon after a man tried to scale it. The monument on the Champ de Mars was also closed to visitors. The media office of the monument said that the unidentified individual tried to climb up but it wasn’t clear how high he had managed to go, local news agencies reported.

Taking to Twitter, the official handle of the monument tweeted that the monument "is currently closed until further notice". It advised visitors to postpone their visit. "The Eiffel Tower is currently closed until further notice. We kindly advise our visitors to postpone their visit," tweeted LaTourEiffel.

The surrounding streets were locked down. Specialist firefighters were on the scene, Reuters reported quoting a police spokeswoman. "The man entered the tower normally and started to climb once he was on the second floor," a spokeswoman for the tower`s operator told Reuters. 

The tower is one of the world`s most recognisable landmarks.

with inputs from Reuters