A vehicle that became lodged in the Queens Quay streetcar tunnel, early Sunday morning was removed approximately eight hours later.

A vehicle is removed from inside the Queens Quay streetcar tunnel to Union station after getting lodged in it on Dec. 31, 2017 CITYNEWS/Jason MacLellan

At around 4:30 a.m., the TTC notified commuters that the 510 Spadina streetcar would be forced to turn back northbound at Spadina and Queens Quay. Later in the day the 509 Harbourfront streetcar was also turning back westbound at Spadina and Queens Quay.

510 Spadina route turning back northbound at Spadina and Queen's Quay, due to a stalled auto inside Queen's Quay tunnel toward Union. #TTC — Official TTC Tweets (@TTCnotices) December 31, 2017

509 Harbourfront turning back westbound at Spadina and Queen's Quay, due to a stalled auto inside Queen's Quay tunnel toward Union. #TTC — Official TTC Tweets (@TTCnotices) December 31, 2017

A vehicle was found stalled far down the tunnel at the Queens Quay Ferry Terminal stop.

Police say the vehicle was a rental car. A police officer responding to the scene said a witness saw the number plates being removed after the van got stuck in the tunnel.

2 ways; the first, there was a clean spot free of salt stains where the plates used to be and second, a witness saw him doing it. — K.Tauro (@TPSTauro) December 31, 2017

In addition police said that there was likely an attempt to wipe down the van, possibly to remove fingerprints.

It took several hours to safely remove the vehicle and normal streetcar service resumed around 12:40 p.m.

No information regarding the driver or why the van was left stalled in the tunnel is available at this time. However, police say as the tunnel is TTC property, surveillance video is readily available and will be reviewed to identify the driver.

To the driver that thought it was okay to keep going: it wasn’t. Also, taking the plates and cleaning the car just means we trace the #VIN. As per the TTC, it will be a number of hours before they are able to safely remove this vehicle from the tunnel. @TPSOperations @CityNews pic.twitter.com/yrJ6q0RWuh — K.Tauro (@TPSTauro) December 31, 2017

Torontonians weighed in on twitter about how often cars seem to drive down the tunnel and pitched solutions on how to prevent the frequent mistake.

TTC spokesman Brad Ross replied with his own suggestion.

This was considered in the past however it was decided against due to concerns of malfunctions with an arm or gate ^HK — TTC Customer Service (@TTChelps) December 31, 2017

Unfortunately this could also fail especially in winter and become frozen. Will ask @bradTTC and @TTCStuart if there are any plans for improvements to prevent this type of incident ^HK — TTC Customer Service (@TTChelps) December 31, 2017

TTC spokesman Brad Ross replied with his own suggestion.