With many statues around the state being taken down by protesters, those who run the San Luis Obispo Mission decided to take matters into their own hands and take down their statue themselves.
This comes after the possibility of it being removed or even vandalized.
The long-standing statue of Junípero Serra was brought down by a work crew Monday afternoon.
Over the last several weeks, people and cities have toppled statues they say are ugly reminders of racism in our country.
The California Catholic Conference released a statement saying, “If the process is to be truly effective as a remedy for racism, it must discern carefully the entire contribution that the historical figure in question made to the American life.”
Bay area resident Keith Moe, travels around California to explore county missions. He expressed a similar viewpoint.
"Move them to museums. Understand the context of what they represent. And so, it's part of our history. That's what I feel most is that, let's not throw away from our history just because it wasn't exactly the best,” Moe said.
The statue was taken into a storage room inside the church. Details on what they will do with it are still unknown.
