Shirtless man climbing Eiffel Tower forces evacuation hours before Olympic closing ceremony

The Eiffel Tower and its surrounding area were evacuated hours before the Olympic closing ceremony on Sunday because a man was climbing the tower.

French police spotted the shirtless man around 3 p.m. and began escorting visitors away from the area. He was spotted while in the second section of the tower, just above the Olympic rings that were installed above the lower viewing deck.

The man’s intentions remained unclear.

Some people were briefly locked on the tower’s second floor during the man’s ascent but police released them after about 30 minutes.

Though it was a centerpiece of the opening ceremony, the Eiffel Tower is not expected to play any role in the closing ceremony. The festivities are scheduled for around 9 p.m. at Stade de France in the northern suburb of Saint-Denis. The stadium hosted rugby and track and field events through the Games.

Paris was crawling with police officers on Sunday in advance of the closing ceremony. Authorities said 20,000 officers were deployed throughout the city and Saint-Denis, with 3,000 around the Stade de France.

Despite that show of force, cops were unable to explain how the man was able to begin scaling France’s most famous landmark in the middle of the afternoon.

Though there were fears and threats before the Olympics, the Games went off without any interruption for more than two weeks.

Terror threats did disrupt another major event in Europe during the Games — three Taylor Swift concerts scheduled in Vienna. All three shows were canceled after cops arrested two men accused of plotting a terror attack outside the venue.

With News Wire Services