A cross at the Mojave National Preserve that has served as a World War I memorial and was the subject of a First Amendment lawsuit that made it to the Supreme Court was reported missing Monday, officials say.
Linda Slater, spokeswoman for the preserve, said the wooden cover over the cross was reported missing Saturday. The uncovered cross was seen again Sunday. But when National Preserve staff went to the site to replace the wooden cover, the cross was gone.
A lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of the Central District of California in 2001 argued that the display of the cross in the memorial violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court in April by a 5-4 ruling decided that the cross could stay.
There is, as yet, no word on who removed the Mojave Cross. Your speculations are as good as mine.
But I have my suspicions.
LATER THOUGHT:
I wonder if the people who are willing to do anything to get that cross removed have any concern whatsoever about the beliefs of the soldiers who gave their lives, or their families? Of course, some proportion of anti-religion fanaticism claims to be pacifist, and blames religion for the violence in the world. But if they are the ones who took this cross, it seems they have no compunctions about theft.
UPDATE: Here’s an update with more details.
