The Olympic rings displayed off the Odaiba Marine Park in Minato Ward, Tokyo, ahead of the Tokyo Games have been removed -- temporarily for maintenance purposes.
The rings on floating barges are 15.3 meters tall, span 32.6 meters and have a depth of 1.7 meters. They were installed off the park in January by the Tokyo metropolitan government to raise enthusiasm for the Games.
As the Tokyo Olympics have been postponed to next summer amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, the rings were towed away on Thursday to a shipbuilding factory in Yokohama to prevent them from being damaged by typhoons and sea breezes.
The Olympic rings are scheduled to be reinstalled at the same place after spending four months for checks and cleaning.
"You might feel a bit sad," said Atsushi Yanashimizu, an official at the metropolitan government's Bureau of Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 Preparation. "We will bring the rings back to this place to give a boost to the Games once again after ensuring their safety."
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