Mysterious gingerbread monolith appears in San Francisco on Christmas

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Saturday, December 26, 2020
Gingerbread monolith appears in SF
A mysterious monolith made of gingerbread appeared in San Francisco's Corona Heights Park on Christmas morning.

SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco residents got a sweet Christmas surprise.

A monolith similar to the ones seen around the world appeared at Corona Heights Park on Friday.

However, instead of the shiny metal material, this mysterious object appeared to be made of gingerbread. The monolith even had icing and gumdrops!

The sweet surprise turned out to be short-lived -- the monolith was found collapsed Saturday morning.

And just like the others, it is unclear how it got there or what caused the cookie to crumble.

This image shows a gingerbread monolith that appeared on Christmas Day at a park in San Francisco. The monolith collapsed on Dec. 26, 2020.
This image shows a gingerbread monolith that appeared on Christmas Day at a park in San Francisco. The monolith collapsed on Dec. 26, 2020.

The gingerbread monolith has gained a lot of attention both online and in-person, with many calling it a Christmas miracle.

RELATED: Mysterious silver monolith found in Utah desert has disappeared

Officials in Utah discovered a mysterious-looking, chrome monolith standing upright deep in a remote desert.

Last month, a tall, silver, shining metal monolith was discovered in the desert in southeastern Utah.

Mike Newlands, 38, of Denver, told ABC News that he, his roommate and two other friends decided to drive to the Red Rock desert to see the object, which went viral after it was discovered Nov. 18. The group was among the scores of other hikers who traveled to the region to see the mysterious structure and take some pictures.

While Newlands and his friends were hanging out in front of the structure, he said a group of four men came to the monolith and took it down.

"We were shell shocked. We were like, 'Holy smokes,'" Newlands told ABC News. "It was like watching an Internet meme die in real life."

Newlands took photos of the unidentified group removing the structure. The people who removed it kept to themselves, Newlands said, and then left quickly.

A spokeswoman for the Utah state office for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management told ABC News it is investigating the installation of the structure since it is illegal to install any object on public land without permission from the agency.

Officials nearly 6,000 miles away in northeastern Romania were also scratching their heads over a similar monolith that was discovered Nov. 26. Just like the object in Utah, the approximately 10-foot mysterious beam disappeared from its spot in the city of Piatra Neamt on Tuesday, according to city officials.

Rocsana Josanu, the culture and heritage official for Piatra Neamt, told ABC News she was baffled by the object's arrival. The land where it was discovered is a protected archeological site that dates back to the second century B.C., so any work on the land requires permission from the government, she said.

Another monolith was also spotted earlier this month on a hiking trail in Atascadero, California which is about halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, students and staff at Austin Community College built and installed their own monolith as a way to be part of the trend.

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ABC News contributed to this report.

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