Christians in Albany, California, are fighting to have a historic cross returned to its original spot after it was unceremoniously torn down.
After years of legal battles between the city council and the Albany Lions Club, the cross was finally removed on June 8.
The president of Albany Lions Club, Kevin Pope, spoke with Fox News Digital regarding the fight over the 52-year-old cross.
“The members of the city council and some others really hate what it stands for,” Pope stated.
Watch the latest video at foxnews.com
Albany native Dorena Osborn told the outlet, “There were lies actually brought up against the cross saying that it had affiliation with the KKK.”
She further explained: “And there’s an atheist group that really hates the cross. And so they got people on city council and spread the lies.”
The cross was erected in 1971 on privately owned land by a Lions Club member, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
A few years later, the land was sold but the club was granted an easement to maintain the cross on top of the hill.
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Pope told Fox the cross is a symbol of love, as God sent his son down to “live with us, die for us, and to take our sins upon us.”
“Christians are called to be ambassadors for Christ, ambassadors for love. We want peace,” Pope added. “We don’t want to fight about this.
“We are not against the city of Albany, but we are against the city council, the current city council.
“We don’t want division, but they are bringing division, and it’s a small group of people that are doing it.”
Pope said the fight isn’t over as “we’re not gonna walk quietly into the night,” and they will continue to try to undo the removal of the cross.
Evangelist Franklin Graham commented on X regarding the issue, “Christians who live there want to bring it back—and I hope they can!”
After 50 years, the city council of Albany, California, had a 28-foot tall hilltop cross taken down because they didn’t like what it stood for. The cross had been maintained by the local Lions Club for decades. Christians who live there want to bring it back—and I hope they can!…
— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) August 3, 2023
He included 1 Corinthians 1:18: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
