Another theory published in an article in 2008 by Ursula Vedder suggests that the Colossus was never in the port, but rather was part of the Acropolis of Rhodes, on a hill today named Monte Smith, which overlooks the port area. The temple on top of Monte Smith has traditionally thought to have been devoted to Apollo, but according to Vedder, it would have been a Helios sanctuary. The enormous stone foundations at the temple site, the function of which is not definitively known by modern scholars, are proposed by Vedder to have been the supporting platform of the Colossus.[17]
The fortress of St Nicholas is also posited as the location. The fort's floor contains an anomalous circle of sandstone blocks which may have been the statue's foundation, while curved blocks of marble incorporated in the structure, too finely cut to have been made for the purpose, may be the remains of a marble base that sat upon the sandstone foundation.