A “monolith” that appeared off a trail at a Canyon Country park near the Sierra Highway exit on Highway 14 Sunday in Santa Clarita was removed as of Monday morning.
Standing about 6 feet tall, the three-sided structure, which appeared to be made of cardboard and painted to look metallic, was visible from Highway 14 over the weekend — apparently the latest of several monoliths to be found around the world in the last few weeks.
By about 8 a.m. Monday, the edifice, which did not appear to have any discernible markings, was removed. City of Santa Clarita Parks Department staff who arrived at the location where the monolith was reported Sunday instead found a cryptic note, written with a Sharpie marker on a piece of cardboard:
“There used to be a Monolith here … Now there is just a rock with BENs name on it.” The word “boat” was also written next to the message.
When contacted Monday, city officials confirmed it was found on city property, but they did not know the origin of the structure or why it was at that location — in a park near Sierra Highway.
“We were driving down the freeway going southbound and I looked up at the park and saw the monolith,” said Canyon Country resident Mary Elterman. “We started laughing and had to come back to see it. I’m impressed somebody took the time to do this.”
A monolith is usually described as a single massive stone or rock, such as some mountains, or a single large piece of rock placed within a monument or building, but the metal structures were given the name after a similar 10-foot pillar was discovered in Utah last month.
Since then, the monoliths have been found in Northern California, South America, Europe and now the Santa Clarita Valley, but usually, disappear within days.
Raychel Stewart and Bobby Block contributed to this report.
