Marble baby placed at top of Monserate Mountain

Hikers on Monserate Mountain may have been surprised to find a sculpture of a small baby placed in a manger at the top of the trail during the week of Christmas.

After retiring from his tourism business due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Michael Sykes began dedicating his time to a new project. Although he does not consider himself an artist, he decided to carve a statue of a baby out of Italian marble to be placed on the top of Monserate Mountain.

When the pandemic first hit, Sykes contracted a virus that attacked his heart and he was struggling to adjust to his new circumstance. This prompted him to begin his new marble carving project.

"I'm not an artist, I'm a craftsman," he said. "I like working with all different materials, but marble is harder because if you make a mistake, you can't go back. Stone can't be put back together."

The baby figure took a total of 500 hours, and it ended up weighing around 45 pounds. Initially, Sykes said he wanted to place it on the top of Monserate to help inspire people and bring more art into their lives. However, after speaking to friends and family members, Sykes realized that many people had lost faith in humanity, so he wanted to help bring back their faith.

"Everyone told me not to place my sculpture on Monserate because they believed it would either be stolen or vandalized," he said. "But that's not what happened. No one stole it and it was in perfect condition the whole time."

Working with marble was an adjustment for Sykes, and he struggled to work with it at first.

"The eye is prejudiced," he said. "I kept noticing mistakes." Then, once he had the proportions right, Sykes freehanded it to give it more personality.

Once it was done, Sykes said he was very proud of his work, but he was looking forward to the reaction from the community.

The baby was put in a manger to resemble the birth of Jesus, and it was placed on Monserate Mountain on Christmas Eve where it remained until Jan. 5. During this time, Sykes hiked the trail several times to see people's reactions and discuss the artwork with other hikers.

"People were shocked that it is handmade from marble," he said. "Everyone thought that it was a casting."

He loved seeing how the others reacted to his statue. According to Sykes, there was a lot of appreciation and enthusiasm, especially among young people.

"Other hikers thanked me for creating the statue," he said. "I just wanted the community of Fallbrook to be able to enjoy this piece and help people find their faith in humanity again."