It’s truly sad that Shaylynn Wietersen’s personal items were taken from her memorial on Burn Road (“Memorial to Granite Falls girl vandalized,” Jan. 1), but roadside memorials such as this are sites of misplaced grief and I don’t think they should be allowed.
It’s horrific to lose a loved one, but there are more appropriate places to mourn. Memorials should be limited to the home or in a cemetery, not littering our roads. It’s illegal for people to dump garbage on county roads, yet these memorials are given leniency. Since there isn’t a limit on how long they can be out there, some are left for years and become rundown, messy eyesores.
Even cemeteries have a policy of removing personal items left on graves, typically after 30 days, in order to maintain a neat and attractive landscape. I think a better alternative to commemorate a loved one who died in a car accident would be to get a county-provided “In Memory Of” sign, which would honor the deceased while still providing a warning for others to drive safely.
Molly McGill
Granite Falls
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