Protesters cover famous Sign Hill letters in South San Francisco

City Manager Sharon Ranals said South San Francisco police officers notified the protesters that the act violated a municipal code prohibiting individuals from altering property in public parks, including the South City sign, which is visible to those driving along Highway 101 and even airplane passengers landing at San Francisco International Airport. Protesters removed the fabric banners soon after and did not receive any citations. 

Ranals said the city upholds residents’ right to protest, as long as it does not obstruct public property.

“Of course we respect the right to protest. If the protesters had stood with a sign on the street, or had stood up there with a sign, that would have been fine, but when it was staked to the ground over the city’s letters, we did have to ask them to remove it,” she said. 

The hillside sign, which shows “South City The Industrial City” across three separate rows, is an approximately 100-year-old historic landmark erected in the 1920s as a nod to the city’s strong industrial sector. Listed on the National Historic Register, each letter spans about 50 to 65 feet in height, and Ranals said many who attempt to change or add to the sign underestimate how large the letters are. 

The protesters’ banners covered about one to two letters in the top left portion of the sign which was removed by the afternoon. 

Ranals said the sign caught her attention while she was at Orange Park on Saturday, as the word “aid” was written in a different color and smaller font than the other words, leading some to believe it said “End to Israel” initially. It was only until you got closer to the sign that you could see the full phrase, she added. 

This is not the first time individuals have attempted to alter the sign, although it has often been in support of sports teams, such as when fans of the San Francisco Giants or University of California, Berkeley, painted the teams’ corresponding colors on the letters. While the protesters over the weekend did not pose particular environmental risks to the area, Ranals said continuous efforts to change the sign could pose danger to its wildlife.

“There is a sensitive habitat there,” she said. “We don’t want to see it become a sign board for public messaging.”