The Eiffel Tower was evacuated on Monday after a man began scaling the 1,063-foot structure.

Photos of the climber, who has not been identified, quickly flooded social media, showing him more than halfway up the monument as rescue workers tried to reach him. It was not clear why he was climbing the landmark.

A spokeswoman for the tower’s operator told Reuters that the man had entered the tower normally and started to climb once he was on the second floor.

The tower’s official Twitter account announced the closing Monday afternoon. “We kindly advise our visitors to postpone their visit,” it said. The lockdown left tourists stranded at the top of the tower, and France 24 reported that the esplanade under the tower was also closed.

Representatives for the monument and the local police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

After the monument was closed, its Twitter account began responding to upset visitors. It told several tourists that prepurchased tickets would be refunded, and apologized for the inconvenience.

People have tried to climb the historic structure in the past. In 2015, James Kingston, a British climber and daredevil who has carried out many high-altitude stunts, reportedly scaled the tower.

In 2018, bulletproof glass was installed on the north and south ends of the structure to help protect it from terrorist attacks. According to NPR, the glass panels are nearly 10 feet tall and are more than two inches thick. On the east and west ends, metal fences were erected to prevent vehicles from entering.

The structure, designed by the French engineer Gustave Eiffel, was completed in 1889 and took less than two years to build. Roughly seven million people a year visit it.

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