(AP) - Three people protesting China's human rights record and the impending arrival of the Olympic torch climbed up the Golden Gate Bridge Monday and tied the Tibetan flag and two banners to its cables.
The banners read "One World One Dream. Free Tibet" and "Free Tibet."
The protesters wore helmets and harnesses as they made their way up the cables running next to the south tower of the famed span. The climb had the group suspended several dozen feet above traffic.
Mary Ziegenbien, a spokeswoman with the California Highway Patrol, said authorities would not try to go get the protesters out of concern for their safety.
"We don't want to put their lives in danger by going and grabbing them off the suspension cables right now," she said.
The torch relay is scheduled for Wednesday in San Francisco, its only North American stop.
Its path around the globe already has been marked by protests against China's policies toward Tibet and Sudan. In Paris, organizers canceled the final leg of the Olympic run after chaotic protests, snuffing out the torch and putting it aboard a bus.
Rallies, vigils and news conferences related to the torch's arrival have taken place in San Francisco almost daily for the past several weeks. More are planned over the next two days in anticipation of the torch's arrival.
About 80 torchbearers will carry the flame on a six mile route along the San Francisco Bay.