Hundreds of people got their first glimpse of a giant crucifix frozen under Lake Michigan on Saturday after the cross became visible to the public for the first time since 2015.
Several hundred people waited in frigid temperatures on Saturday to view the 11-foot crucifix submerged under 22 feet of lake water through a carved hole in the five-foot sheet of ice covering Lake Michigan, WPBN reported.
The 11-foot cross— which also has a five-foot, five-inch statue of Jesus Christ attached to it— rests under Lake Michigan about 260 yards off the shoreline of Petoskey, Michigan.
The grieving family of a 15-year-old boy ordered the 1,850-pound marble cross in 1956 to honor the boy after he died in a farming accident. But the family later refused the statue because the cross suffered damage during shipment, Inside Edition reported.
The cross was put up for sale, and purchased by a local diving club in an insurance sale in 1962.
Eventually, the club arranged for the cross to be lowered into its current place at the bottom of Lake Michigan to honor a diver who died while at nearby Torch Lake. Over time, it became a local memorial for those who died at sea.
The public got its first glimpse of the cross in 2015 when 2,021 spectators waited in line to view the underwater statue. But bad weather conditions and thin ice over the past few years have made it difficult for people to view the statue.
The underwater cross is not the first religious symbol at sea to attract the interest of spectators. A giant wooden cross washed ashore at a Fort Lauderdale, Florida, beach in February, sparking interest among visitors and locals.
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