Mount Soledad cross controversy

The Mount Soledad Cross is a prominent landmark located on top of Mount Soledad in the La Jolla neighborhood of the city of San Diego, California. The present structure was erected in 1954; it is the third Christian cross in that location, the first having been put up in 1913. Architect Donald Campbell designed the present cross in recessed concrete. It is 29 feet tall with a 12-foot arm spread.
Beginning in 1989, almost ten years before the immediate area around the cross was turned into a war memorial, and ongoing to the present, the Mount Soledad Cross had been involved in a continuous litigation regarding its legal status. The cross's opponents claim it is illegal to display a religious symbol, such as a Christian cross, on public land, as it demonstrates preference to a specific religion and thus violates the separation of church and state as they interpret it in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the No Preference Clause of the California Constitution. Judges have sided with plaintiffs on multiple occasions and ruled that the cross is illegal and had to be removed or sold to the highest bidder. Defenders of the cross explored several options for preserving the cross.

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