Charlize Theron and Stuart Townsend reportedly break up after nine years together

After a nine-year romance, Theron has stopped wearing the commitment ring Townsend gave her, London's Daily Mail reports.

"Stuart gave it to me as a sign of our commitment to each other," Theron has said in the past. "I never take it off."

But off it came at the Hope for Haiti telethon last week. The Victorian ring remained absent as Theron celebrated her mother's birthday at Spago in L.A. Wednesday night.

The news came as a surprise to Hollywood insiders as the couple has been one of the strongest in Tinseltown.

"I didn’t do a church wedding or anything but we consider ourselves husband and wife," Towensend told People magazine in 2007. "We love each other and we want to spend our lives together."

Theron, 34, reportedly decided to break up with the Irish actor after they spent the Christmas holidays in Mexico.

"They had become more like brother and sister than lovers," a friend of the actress' told the Mail. "It was she who ended it.’

The South African star is set to remain in the couple's Hollywood Hills home while Townsend has moved into their Malibu beach abode.

The duo met in 2001 on the set of a thriller called "Trapped."

/NY Daily News/