(CNN) — Australia has asked Google to remove pictures on its Maps service taken from the top of Uluru, the sacred Aboriginal monolith that visitors were banned from climbing last year. Tourists were prohibited from traversing the sacred site in late 2019 after the Anangu people said it was being trashed by visitors eroding its surface, dropping rubbish and polluting nearby waterholes. TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP/AFP/Getty ImagesGoogle is "supportive of this request and is in the process of removing the content," Parks Australia said in a statement. Related content Thousands flock to climb Uluru before sacred rock shuts to visitorsA spokesperson for Google told CNN in a statement: "We understand Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is deeply sacred to the Anangu people." Tens of thousands of tourists climbed the site, formerly known as Ayers Rock, each year until it was closed in October 2019.

Source: CNN September 24, 2020 10:41 UTC