The tip is blunt, measuring 40 centimeters (16 in) and ends in a lightning rod that cannot be seen because of the height; its cables run through the interior of the obelisk.

[8] As a result of the detachments of sheets of stone covering, which occurred on the night of June 20–21, 1938, the day after a public event with the presence of president Ortiz took place there.

[9] In 1975, during the Peronist government of Isabel Perón, a ring-shaped rotating sign was hung around the obelisk, with the motto El silencio es salud (Silence is health).

Although it was allegedly geared against motorists creating excessive noise, it was widely interpreted as a statement calling Argentines to refrain from expressing their political views.

In the 1980s, an activist group broke in and spilled paint from the top windows, causing the city government to erect a fence around its base in 1987.

[15] Lines B, C, and D of the Buenos Aires Metro have stations near the monument, and are connected by a number of underground passages with commercial galleries.

[17] At the base of the south face, in a very small rectangle, this sonnet written by Baldomero Fernández Moreno during a tribute dinner in the Alvear Palace Hotel to Prebisch: English version: Se adoptó esta simple y honesta forma geométrica porque es la forma de los obeliscos tradicionales...