Western Wall prayer notes to God removed

JERUSALEM, Israel (NBC, KYMA) - In Jerusalem, prayer notes to God were removed from cracks in the Western Wall Sunday.

A team of men used wooden sticks to remove the prayers written on small pieces of paper that pilgrims traditionally place in the crevices.

The Rabbi of the Western Wall oversaw the removal, which is done twice a year to make room for more prayers, and the notes were then buried on Jerusalem's Mount of Olives.

The Western Wall is a remnant of the compound of the second temple that was destroyed in 70 A.D.

It stands beneath a religious plaza known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.