Extending a cultural fight that started years ago, Caltrans has quietly demolished a statue of 18th century missionary and Catholic saint Junipero Serra that had overlooked Interstate 280 in Hillsborough for 50 years — perhaps pleasing some who had questioned Serra’s legacy, even as the move enraged his supporters in the church.

The artwork’s construction — built half a century ago, using rebar sprayed with a powdered form of concrete — meant that it could not easily be moved to another site, officials said, so it was demolished instead.

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Standing at 26 feet tall, the larger-than-life Serra was dressed in a monk’s robe with a cowl falling onto his shoulders as he overlooked commuters trekking across the Peninsula. The statue had the names and founding dates of several mi

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