On November 2, red paint was splashed across the front door of Mission Santa Cruz. Following the Catholic church's canonization of Junipero Serra, a series of acts of vandalism has occurred on the Central Coast, including the beheading of a Serra statue in Monterey in October, and the splashing of paint on Mission Carmel and the toppling of a statue of Serra in September.

Students touring the historical mission in Santa Cruz discovered the latest vandalism, according to media reports. Mission Santa Cruz wasn’t founded by Junipero Serra but by his successor, Father Fermín Francisco de Lasuén. It is one of 21 Spanish Franciscan missions stretching from Sonoma to San Diego that were part of the hegemony, apartheid, and colonialism that European invaders forced upon Native people.

Samuel Vargo writes: "Pope Francis can't say I didn't try to warn him about his harebrained decision to canonize Junipero Serra a Roman Catholic saint [...] every tribe and band of American Indians in the mission area of California, and for that matter, the rest of the state, sent letters to Rome asking the Pope not to canonize this vampire. And other Indian nations, tribes and bands throughout the country also sent correspondences."

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