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May 17, 2010
Legal, but Gone
Justin Katz
So, the Mojave Desert cross honoring American servicemen and -women has been stolen:
A cross erected on a remote Mojave Desert outcropping to honor American war dead has been stolen less than two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed it to remain standing while a legal battle continued over its presence on federal land.Versions of the memorial have been vandalized repeatedly in the last 75 years and the motive this time was not immediately known, but the theft was condemned Tuesday by veterans groups that support the cross and by civil libertarians that saw it as a violation of the constitutional separation of church and state.
Among the generic suspects mentioned by National Park Service spokeswoman Linda Slater are "metal scavengers." It seems like a long way to go for metal, unless there was gold beneath the white paint.
1:45 PM
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"the motive this time was not immediately known"
It may not be "known", but dollars to doughnuts, it was a group who didn't like the Sup. Ct. decision.
On the other hand, rural America is not urban America. In rural America the police spend a lot of time watching abandoned or unoccupied , older property. The "threat" is antique dealers who break in and steal the hardware, door hinges, doors, mantlepieces, etc. Where do you think all of those "architectural antiques" come from? In more urban areas, they hire gangs of kids to strip old townhouses. In those areas, police have other problems on their hands.
Posted by: Warrington Faust at May 17, 2010 4:57 PMThe cross was actually on private property purchased by a veteran's group when it was stolen. Therefore the SC decision had very little bearing. Somebody just had their panties in a twist.
Posted by: XS at May 17, 2010 11:48 PM