That’s a good question. The owner of the graveyard might have something to say about it too. You can’t just put “anything” on a site, even if you own the site.
I’m quite touchy about something done here in central Kentucky that I never saw in Washington state. To wit, putting a memorial on the side of the road where someone died. Some of these are amazingly ornate. Further, we’ve lived here for 11 years and many of them are the same ones that were up when we moved here.
I think they are inappropriate. That is what gravesites are for. But I’d compromise with a “six month memorial” rule, eventually reduced to 90 days, and eventually not at all. It’s a good thing they don’t put one up for every person that dies in a hospital. There would be no room for beds. It would also be kinda creepy.
If we are going to cite a law, and the law says "litter", then the definition cannot rely on the subjective opinion of some particular fellow who owns a grave site.
I cannot conceive of a law written so narrow that it would allow that display on other graves but call it "litter" on one particular grave.
It's either litter no matter where it is, or it's not litter. I see this as just another warpage of the law to mean what they want it to mean at any given time.
To wit, putting a memorial on the side of the road where someone died. Some of these are amazingly ornate.
I've seen them. Some I regard as tacky, ugly and an eyesore. I remember one in particular that is still stuck in my mind. It featured a picture of a young man in a suit, and it was affixed to a large utility pole along a highway.
I thought to myself that the young man wasn't a particularly impressive specimen of mankind, but clearly someone loved him dearly and wanted him to be remembered.
It would deteriorate over time as these things do, but about every so many months or so, someone would replenish it. I thought to myself, "they must really be hurting if they are trying so hard to keep his memory alive."
I think this went on for a decade or so, and I haven't noticed that display lately so maybe it's gone.
But I would not have gainsaid them in doing it.
I think they are inappropriate. That is what gravesites are for. But I’d compromise with a “six month memorial” rule, eventually reduced to 90 days, and eventually not at all.
As the years pass by, these things don't last and they go away on their own eventually.
I find them ugly and annoying, but if they help a family to cope, I am willing to put up with them.
Oh, and that boy's mother would occasionally take out an ad in the local newspaper to remind everyone about her boy.