PARIS (AP) - The Paris police have said that the Notre Dame Cathedral has been evacuated after a man committed suicide in the 850-year-old monument and tourist site.

A police official said officers closed the cathedral to the public after the incident on Tuesday afternoon. The official could not confirm French media reports that the man had shot himself.

Officials with the cathedral said only that it had been evacuated.

That is highly unusual for the cathedral, visited by some 13 million people from around the world every year.

This year, Notre Dame got new bells as part of celebrations marking 850 years since construction on the cathedral began.