By FireRescue1 Staff
LONGVIEW, Texas — After posting a light-up cross for the holidays, Longview firefighters were told by city officials to remove it from their station.
Firefighters put up the cross at one of their stations, but officials said they must keep station decor strictly secular, reported KLTV.
The city received a complaint by the non-profit Freedom of Religion Foundation last year regarding the cross being displayed at the fire station. Officials decided to address the issue this year before any complaints are filed.
“And that’s in keeping with the current status U.S. law,” city official Shawn Hara said. “Case law throughout the United States has shown that several communities have faced challenges with displays that are of a religious nature placed on public property. So that’s our practice to not do that.”
Casey Reed, who lives across from the station said firefighters approached her and her husband last week to see if they could put the cross on their fence.
“They came over Thursday and said that somebody had complained about the cross being on government property and asked if they could put it on our property along our fence line, and of course we agreed,” Reed said.
Firefighters returned to the Reed residence this weekend, and said they were going to take the cross back to the city. In turn, the Reeds decided to make a cross of their own to put up.