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PRAGUE — Candles that flickered across the nation to mourn the death of former President Vaclav Havel are being blowtorched to form a huge wax heart soon to go on display in the Czech capital.
Artist Lukas Gavlovsky says the heart will be about 7 feet (2 meters) tall and will be finished by mid-February. He says 100 "huge bags" alone came from Prague's landmark Wenceslas Square.
Havel has long been associated with hearts. He ended his signature with one and when he left office in 2003 a neon sign of a heart shone from Prague Castle.
Among the multicolored candles brought by truck to Gavlovsky's studio were other mementos, including a cigarette alongside a picture of the one-time dissident playwright with The Rolling Stones and a shot glass.
Havel died Dec. 18 at age 75.
