Crosses honoring troopers protested

Lori Lucas-Foster said even replacing the crosses for another symbol at this point would be like tampering with a gravesite. The daughter of a fallen UHP trooper, Lucas-Foster said although her family is traditionally Catholic, they are not very religious.

"To us the symbol is not about religion or a symbol of Christianity. To us, it's a memorial marker for the life that my dad sacrificed for the whole community," she said.

Her father's cross stands off southbound I-15 in Layton. Tom Rettberg was a longtime UHP pilot whose helicopter crashed in Woods Cross on Feb. 11, 2000, while he attempted an emergency maneuver as part of training.

Lucas-Foster and Royce both point out that crosses are used to mark graves at government memorial sites, such as Arlington National Cemetery.

In a statement, Clark said the cross stands for Christianity to the casual observer.

"To so blatantly tie the UHP to religion and to overwhelm the commemoration with a harrowing symbol exclusive to one religion unquestionably violates the doctrine of the separation of church" and state, Clark said.

American Atheists are asking for damages of $1 but seek the removal of all crosses on government property and a ruling that the UHP logo on the crosses is unconstitutional.

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