On the afternoon of Wednesday, December 2, 2020, the City of Atascadero received reports from hikers of a steel Monolith or Obelisk structure at the top of Pine Mountain in Stadium Park.

As of early this morning, the Monolith had disappeared. The City has received the actual video that has surfaced on social media showing a group of men from out of the area removing the Monolith and replacing it with a plywood cross. The video shows them replacing the structure and talking amongst themselves. 

“We are upset that these young men felt the need to drive 5 hours to come into our community and vandalize the Monolith.  The Monolith was something unique and fun in an otherwise stressful time,” said Mayor Heather Moreno.  

The Atascadero Police Department has not received any reports to date that the Monolith had been removed and/ or stolen. Currently, the Atascadero Police Department is reviewing the video and looking into this incident further. We will provide updated information as soon as it’s available. 

The steel 3-sided structure stood about 10 ft. tall and appeared to weigh an estimated 200 pounds. The area of Stadium Park offers a 2 mile looping trail up to the top or you can take a more challenging trail with a higher level of difficulty to the top that would be about a 30-minute hike. The altitude of Pine Mountain sits at 1300 ft. and there is no vehicle access to bring something that large to the top. The City owns and maintains 75 acres of the Stadium Park area and the five-acre entrance is owned and maintained by the Atascadero Land Preservation Society (ALPS). At this time, neither the City nor the ALPS have any information on how the structure found its way to the top of the mountain or who placed it there.

If you have any information about the Monolith, please contact the Atascadero Police Department at (805) 461-5051.

For further information, please contact Terrie Banish at (805) 470-3490, tbanish@atascadero.org. The area of Pine Mountain where the Monolith was located, can be found atwww.visitatascadero.com/things-to-do/hiking-and-biking/ and click on Stadium Park.