Couples should stop cuddling and kissing near a revered square surrounded by palaces and temples in Nepal's capital because it shows a lack of respect for religion, a committee warned Thursday. "The environment around this ancient religious site has been desecrated by these young Romeos and Juliets," Rajan Maharjan, a supervisor from the Kathmandu Durbar Square Conservation Programme Committee told AFP. Durbar Square, a UNESCO world heritage site and popular destination for thousands of foreign backpackers to spend the day, has a series of Hindu and Buddhist shrines that date back to the sixteenth century. But the square, which is home to a young girl revered as a living goddess and was the seat of Nepal's kings until the 1960s, has also become a popular spot for lovebirds to gather in the evening. "Lovers kissing and cuddling while sheltering in the temples has become a common site, so we have posted notices telling people to stop," said Maharajan, adding that little notice has been paid to the signs. "We put the notices up on Tuesday and the same day, they were ripped down but we plan to take pictures of the couples and publish them to try and make them stop," he said. Nepal, where about 80 percent of the 27 million population are Hindu, is extremely socially conservative, and public displays of affection between couples are viewed as culturally unacceptable. (Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Agence France Presse.)