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...