 In 1989 or 1990 , a San Francisco city worker dumped an unused granite bollard amid the monastery stones ; the 4 @-@ foot ( 1 @.@ 2 m ) tall bollard was once used as a traffic barrier . Some self @-@ styled Hindu park users led by performance artist Michael Bowen , calling himself Guru Baba Kali Das , began to worship the phallus @-@ shaped bollard as a lingam ; they wrestled some of the monastery 's stones into a religious circle , calling the circle Shiva Linga . The city sued to reclaim the area in 1993 , but lost the battle in court . In January 1994 the city arranged to move the traffic bollard to Bowen 's garage , serving as his temple . Bowen later offered the granite bollard for sale and admitted that the whole episode was a performance piece . 
