TEGA CAY, S.C. (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE) – The battle over a fallen officer memorial is just heating up as the City of Tega Cay continues to modify the memorial, just as some upset residents are getting ready to take their battle to city council.
Within the last 24 hours someone from the city came back out to the memorial at the police station and added more plaster, covering the word “lord”.
Tega Cay is a small city in South Carolina made up of about 7,500 residents. The city is making national headlines in front of millions, even appearing on FOX & Friends Tuesday morning, because of the modifications made to the fallen officer memorial.
One of the first complaints about the use of the word “lord” was made on July 15.
“Any family members, friends and colleagues are not going to like what I have to say this evening,” said resident, Dann Dunn, during a July 15 Tega Cay city council meeting.
‘LORD’ REMOVED FROM NEW TEGA CAY POLICE MEMORIAL
Dunn told city council members he supports the memorial, he supports police officers, and he even believes in the Lord, but he doesn’t believe God and government should go hand in hand.
“The Tega Cay Police Station is not the place for a religious memento,” said Dunn.
Dunn says his worry was the use of the word “lord” could open up the city to a lawsuit, which in turn could waste tax dollars.
Following even more complaints, the city manager says the city attorney agreed to err on the side of caution and remove the word “lord” from the memorial.
“Hopefully folks understand why it was there. Hopefully folks understand why it has been removed. The text,” said Tega Cay City Manager, Charlier Funderburk.
By Tuesday, the text in question was filled in with even more plaster, which was upsetting to the local women’s group who donated the original memorial. No one from that women’s group was available to speak on camera with FOX 46 Charlotte.
FOX 46 has learned some residents are starting a petition to bring to city council members because the word “lord” was removed. A prayer gathering is scheduled for Saturday for those who supported the original memorial.
