The American Civil Liberties Union is taking aim at one small Indiana town’s Christmas tree.
The ACLU of Indianapolis is suing the town of Knightstown over a Christmas tree because it includes a lighted cross at the top of the tree, Fox News reported.
It was only recently that the town has faced opposition over the cross on top of the tree, Fox 59 Indianapolis reported.
“A couple weeks ago they had a crowd here,” said Knightstown resident Mark Tompkins. “Everybody was here. Everybody was fine with it. But now you’ve got one person, you know, out of everybody.”
Tompkins disagrees with the ACLU lawsuit even though his relative is the plaintiff, according to Fox 59.
The ACLU says in the lawsuit that Joseph Tompkins takes issue with the cross because it violates the separation of church and state.
The lawsuit, which was filed Thursday, says he has been “forced to come into unwelcome contact” with the display, causing him “irreparable harm.”
Tompkins also objects to his tax dollars being used to fund the display, according to court documents.
“I think we can find people in this town that can replace that 0.0004 cents to give to him and not have to worry about it,” Knightstown businessman Lau Ghioc said in response to Tompkins’ objection.
Tompkins wants the town to remove the cross and pay him monetary damages, the Indianapolis Star reports.
A Knightstown representative never returned the paper’s requests for comment.
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