Cross returns to Indiana Christmas tree despite efforts to see it banished

Just two weeks after a massive kerfuffle surrounding the cross that was placed atop a Knightstown Christmas tree broke out and residents of the Indiana town erected crosses of their own in protest, the Christian symbol is back on the tree.

Using a truck lift, a man placed the cross back on the Christmas tree Thursday, according to WISH-TV. Though the cross is not at the top of the tree, as it was prior to being taken down, it is near the top, and it will be lit at night.

A motion to request a preliminary injunction was lifted to permit the cross, as long as it wasn't in its former position, Ken Falk, director of the Indiana branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, told the local news outlet.

This entire issue started because of one resident who filed a lawsuit against the town, claiming the display infringed his civil liberties. So for those still concerned about a benign cross ornament stepping on someone's constitutional rights, there is no need to fear. Falk said the ACLU-Indiana still plans to move forward with its lawsuit, once it is determined whether or not a cross being on the tree but not the top of it is unconstitutional.

As TheBlaze previously reported, the initial removal of the cross on Dec. 12 was met with great frustration from the Knightstown residents, hundreds of whom put out their own displays featuring the Christian symbol.

Though residents said they respected the man's complaint about the cross, they aren't giving up the fight.

"Keep Christ in Christmas no matter where you’re at," Lora Lewman, who attended a pro-cross rally in the town square, told WISH.

But Falk, of course, sees it differently.

"The cross is not a Christmas symbol," he said. "The cross is the preeminent symbol of Christianity and it reminds Christians not of the secular trappings of Christmas, but of the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus."