NEWPORT BEACH (CBSLA) — Parents in Newport Beach were shocked and concerned to find out a stately church bell tower near several schools has been hiding a T-Mobile cell phone site.

A spokesman for the Orange County Catholic Diocese says the equipment housed within the bell tower of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church Newport Beach, in the middle of the Balboa Peninsula, is being fixed because of fire damage — not to install 5G technology.

But that has not eased the concern of local parents. The church, 1441 W. Balboa Ave., is surrounded by several schools, a preschool and a children’s center.

“You don’t know what that sort of frequency is going to do to our children,” one mother said.

Mother Reina Shebesta told CBS2 that the cell phone tower was only discovered because of construction.