Mission bells has been one of California's most divisive images and for years the symbols have increasingly been removed and criticized as reminders of colonialism and oppression of Native Americans.

UC Santa Cruz employees David Jessen, left, and Mitch Smith, remove an "El Camino Real" bell marker from campus during a ceremony in June 2019. (Cody Glenn / Associated Press) Few symbols in ...

SANTA CRUZ — Indigenous community members from across the state spoke out Saturday — against a backdrop of Mission Santa Cruz — in support of the final mission bell on city of Santa Cruz land being ...

According to Santa Cruz Police chief Andy Mills, the Mission Bell at Soquel and Dakota has been stolen. The bell went missing before there was to be a removal ceremony for it on Saturday by the Amah ...

SANTA CRUZ — The only remaining “El Camino Real” mission bell in Santa Cruz — a symbol that many of California’s Indigenous peoples say is a hurtful reminder of oppression and slavery that took place ...

GILROY – The concrete footing is poured and set. A kelly green pole points to the sky. But something is missing from the perch along Monterey Highway in this city at the southern end of Santa Clara ...

Few symbols in California are as ubiquitous as the roadside markers shaped like mission bells that flank state highways and the streets of coastal cities from San Diego to Sonoma along the so-called ...