Without fully realizing it, I have had a bit of an obsession with the statue of Junipero Serra that looms over Interstate 280 in the general vicinity of Hillsborough.

Or loomed.

You may not have noticed, but the statue is gone.

This August, after 50 years as a weird, controversial and oddly fascinating landmark, Caltrans took the statue down and, essentially, threw it away.

Ah, but will it be missed?

Not by Caltrans or the California Highway Patrol, which got tired of repeatedly rousting sexual adventurers, vandals and homeless encampments from the site, and asked that the statue be removed, according to Jeneane Crawford, public information officer for Caltrans District 4, which includes the Peninsula.

The statue was designed and built by Louis DuBois, a San Carlos contractor and s

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