Hello, I brought this issue up last year around this same time. We have again asked permission of the St. Pauls Episcopal Church in Summerville to have a memorial service at the C. I. Walker Monument located on church grounds. Our UDC chapter owns 100 square feet that the monument is on and footage surrounding it. I again have been given the run-around that they will be having church functions there during this time. Note these functions will be in the new church not in the old church graveyard where the monument is located. I have again been asked by the reverend to remove the monument from their premises, my question is does not the SC Law listed below state that this is a felony?

Code of Laws of South Carolina
Current through December 2004

SECTION 16-17-600. Destruction or desecration of human remains or repositories thereof; liability of crematory operators; penalties. [SC ST SEC 16-17-600]

(B) It is unlawful for a person willfully and knowingly, and without proper legal authority to:

(1) obliterate, vandalize, or desecrate a burial ground where human skeletal remains are buried, a grave, graveyard, tomb, mausoleum, or other repository of human remains;
(2) deface, vandalize, injure, or remove a gravestone or other memorial monument or marker commemorating a deceased person or group of persons, whether located within or outside of a recognized cemetery, memorial park, or battlefield; or
(3) obliterate, vandalize, or desecrate a park or other area clearly designated to preserve and perpetuate the memory of a deceased person or group of persons.

A person violating the provisions of subsection (B) is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned not more than ten years or fined not more than five thousand dollars, or both.
Can we legally be forced to remove this monument and be denied access to it? Thank you, Ann Harmon President C. I. Walker Chapter # 190 Summerville, SC