Vanessa Bryant asks for commemorative items fans left near Staples Center to honor Kobe and Gianna Bryant

Scott Gleeson | USA TODAY

Vanessa Bryant has asked for some of the commemorative items fans have left outside Staples Center in honor of her husband and daughter.

Thousands have paid tribute to Kobe Bryant, 41, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven other victims this past week after they died Sunday in a helicopter crash.

Lee Zeidman, president of Staples Center, L.A. Live and the Microsoft Theater, told The Los Angeles Times that Vanessa Bryant has requested T-shirts, letters, basketballs, stuffed animals and toys that were left by fans.

"Vanessa had reached out to us and said, 'Our family would like the items out there.' So we're going to catalog every one of them," Zeidman told The Times. "We're going to put those in specially made containers and we're going to ship them to the family."

Vanessa Bryant thanked fans and supporters on social media mid-week. She posted a photo of empty seats at Staples Center that were left for Kobe and Gianna during Friday night's tribute at the Lakers game, writing, "There is no #24 without #2."

Zeidman told the Times that after Sunday — a week since the helicopter crash — the venues will need to be cleaned out for contractually obligated events.

"So we're going to compost all those flowers out there and spread them around the plants in and around L.A. Live and in and around Staples Center," he said. "So that means that all those fans that took the time to buy the flowers and plants and brought them down there, some of that will still be around the site."