This Group Is at It Again: The Fight to Remove the Lake Michigan Memorial Cross

Officials in western Michigan plan to hold a meeting later in January to get public feedback on calls for the removal of a large cross that's stood along Lake Michigan for decades.

The Ludington Daily News reports the Pere Marquette Township Board will hold the special meeting on January 23, 2018 in Ludington.

The Michigan Association of Civil Rights and the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation say the Father Marquette cross, which is maintained with public funding, is unconstitutional.

Others contend the legal issues aren't that clear cut.

Jesuit Father Jacques Marquette was among the first Europeans to explore the area in the 1600s. The cross was built in 1955 on the spot where he supposedly died.

This past week, four people spoke out to make sure the Pere Marquette Township Board of Trustees is aware they want the cross to remain at the memorial in honor of Father Marquette, for whom the township is named.

"It's a part of our history and goes way, way back and to have someone try to take that away from us is very wrong," Elaine Muzzo of Hamlin Township told the board.

Muzzo said if the sight of a cross near a boat launch ramp on Pere Marquette Lake offends people, they should go away and not be offended anymore.

"I really hope it does not go away," Elaine Muzzo said about the memorial cross.