SAN DIEGO -- The fate of the Mount Soledad cross has been debated for 10 years, and now, San Diego has lost its attempt to have the U.S. Supreme Court provide an opinion about the controversy.

Discussion

SOUND OFF Keep The Cross?

The high court said Monday it would not consider San Diego's appeal of a lower court ruling.

An appeals court decided last year that San Diego did not act fairly when it sold the war memorial containing the 43-foot cross and a surrounding half-acre of land to a nonprofit group.

Critics of the 1998 transaction said the city failed to give groups that wanted to dismantle the cross a fair chance of bidding on the property. A lawsuit against the city was brought by Philip Paulson, a Vietnam veteran who said having a Christian symbol on city property violates the separation of church and state.

Attorney Jim McElroy said the cross must go or the property has to be sold correctly and fairly, 10News reported.

"The whole point of the a fair and open sale is that it's not a sale that predetermines that one religion is going to get a preferential spot on the city over all other religions," McElroy said.

The appeals court ruling said it would be up to a federal court judge to see that the two sides work out a solution.

Bill Kellogg from the Soledad Memorial Association said the cross should stay and a resolution will be worked out.

"I think it's far from known what the ultimate outcome will be but we are certainly going to try to fashion something that will be acceptable to the courts and to maintaining the memorial on Mount Soledad," Kellogg said.

The Mount Soledad Natural Park sits on a hilltop overlooking the La Jolla area of San Diego.