SAN GABRIEL (CBS) — On this solemn Good Friday, people at the San Gabriel Mission are rededicating a 77-year-old cross that was nearly destroyed in last year’s windstorm.

A Dec. 1 windstorm that caused so much damaged in the San Gabriel Valley also brought down a big eucalyptus tree in the historic cemetery at the mission.  Business  manager Al Sanchez says the tree just splintered the life-sized crucifix of Jesus Christ on the 16-foot  cross.

“It was kind of … heartbreaking, devastating,” Sanchez told KNX 1070’s Jon Baird.

Sanchez says the reason they decided to unveil and rededicate the cross on Good Friday is because it was originally dedicated nearly 8 decades ago on Good Friday — even before World War 2.