The cross that has crowned the summit of Aneto, at 3,404 metres, for years was recovered by the Guardia Civil on 16 June, several months after it was found torn down and thrown down the slope.
The vandalism was discovered in April, when climbers reaching the highest peak in the Pyrenees found the summit without the cross that has marked it for decades. Since then, its exact whereabouts had been unknown.
The cross was finally located and recovered by Guardia Civil officers during a rescue operation in the area unrelated to the search for it, bringing to a close an episode that had worried the valley’s mountaineering community and residents.
According to the information available so far, the cross is now being repaired, with the aim of returning it to its original place on the summit of Aneto in the coming months.
The news has resonated with the climbers who regularly make the Aneto ascent, for whom the summit cross is an almost obligatory photo on reaching the top. We will update this story as more details about the reinstallation date become known.