If you needed an example of just how far some elements in our country have gone to breed a sense of hostility towards Christianity (and anything that remotely reminds them of the Christian faith), then look no further than to what happened this week to the war memorial in the Mojave Desert.

Under cover of darkness, vandals removed the cross-shaped memorial from its place atop a hill in the desert.

The memorial had been at the center of a long running legal battle over whether or not it was constitutional for the symbol to be on public land, but within the past month the US Supreme Court finally weighed in and found the monument to be constitutional.

Given the fact that it's in such a remote location, (only a few dozen cars pass that way each day), and the theft comes so soon after the Supreme Court decision, it's pretty clear that this was motivated by anti-religious sentiment.

From the story:

"This was a legal fight that a vandal just made personal to 50 million veterans, military personnel and their families," said VFW National Commander Thomas J. Tradewell, Sr. in a statement. In a 5 to 4 ruling, the US Supreme Court on April 28, overturned an earlier federal court ruling that prohibited Congress from transferring public land around the cross to private owners, thus eliminating any perception of government-endorsement of religion. The court battle had gone on for several years as the memorial had remained covered, first with brown canvas, then with plywood. ...

Looking at the pictures of the site where the cross once was, VFW chief spokesperson Joe Davis says he is amazed at the serious planning and execution that went into the theft. The cutting of the thick, metal pipes in concrete was a serious undertaking, he says.

The eight-foot-high cross had been perched on a wind-swept rock jutting 30 feet above the Mojave National Preserve 76 years ago by a group of World War 1 veterans. Situated in a wide expanse of arid desert, the cross was about 20 feet off a two-lane highway where perhaps 20 cars pass a day. ...

Again, it's not like the memorial was in the middle of a downtown park somewhere.  We're talking about the desert.  Which means someone was "motivated" (by something) to make a trip to the desert with the tools necessary to cut an eight foot metal cross off of its base from its perch 30 above the desert floor.

When he first saw photos of the vandalized cross site, Mr. Davis says he was “in shock and disbelief…. How could anyone have the audacity to tear down a war memorial to the dead?”

Davis says that the original constructors meant no disrespect to other religions – the cross was used not out of religious necessity, he says, but out of respect to the 53,000 US veterans who died over 18 months of fighting in WWI.

"Three of the highest medals in our armed forces use the cross – the distinguished service cross, the Air Force cross, and the Navy cross – and no one has ever returned one of those,” says Davis. “This memorial meant a lot to those veterans and we cannot apply 21st century rules of political correctness to their world in 1934.” ...

But now we live in a country where some elements work convince others that they should be offended at even the symbols of religion, (to say nothing of actual religious speech or activity).

One would hope our the governments with authority in the case would diligently work to hunt down and prosecute those responsible for desecration of a public monument.  But we'll see.

For their part, the Veterans of Foreign Wars have offered a $25,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest and conviction.