Paris, France - The Eiffel Tower in Paris, one of the world's most emblematic symbols, was evacuated for several hours on Saturday after a bomb alert. About 4,000 visitors had to leave the Paris landmark and the square located below the tower on Saturday.

SETE, the body running the site which draws millions of visitors every year, said bomb disposal experts and police scoured the area, including a restaurant located on one of the floors.

"It's a usual procedure in this kind of situation which however is rare," a spokesperson said.

Visitors were evacuated from the tower's three floors and the square under the monument, while a security perimeter was set up and people directed away.

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The alert was lifted a few hours later, a police source and SETE said. It was not initially known how the threat was received.

The more than 130-year-old tower near the Seine is visited by some 7 million people every year.

The iconic monument, also called la dame de fer (iron lady) was built for the Paris World's Fair and completed in 1889. It received two million visitors during its debut event.