Neighbors Find Obscenity Mowed Into Lawn
Parents Worry For Children Who See Message

POSTED: 3:09 pm EDT September 15, 2005
UPDATED: 5:14 pm EDT September 15, 2005

OMAHA, Neb. -- An Omaha man mowed an obscenity into his lawn, and now his neighbors are upset because they don't want their children to see the nasty language.

The homeowner, who neighbors told Omaha TV station KETV has the last name Miller, cut a two-word expletive into his front lawn after being warned by the city about excessive grass and weeds around his house. The phrase is about 30 feet long across his yard.

"I saw the neighbor's yard with some derogatory statements mowed into the yard," said neighbor Traci Tunzer.

Tunzer said she's been hoping her neighbor would mow the long grass in his yard, but she's upset by the way he decided to mow it. Tunzer said there's a school nearby.

"I have three children, and two of them will definitely know what that says. It worries me," she said. "We don't want our children to be around that kind of stuff."

Down the hill, neighbor Bernie Horstmeyer said he is in disbelief.

"When I first saw it, I saw the big 'U,' and I had to back up just to see if that's what it really said," he said.

Horstmeyer and other residents said the homeowner was warned by the city about excessive weeds and tall grass in his yard. They said the expletive could be his response, or just a prank.

"I don't know if he got turned in (or) why he did it. Or he's just bored and decided to mow it," one neighbor said.

City officials couldn't verify the homeowner's name. No one answered at his front door, and further attempts by KETV to contact him were unsuccessful.

City prosecutor Marty Conboy said little can be done legally about the yard.

"There really is no criminal law that covers these kinds of vulgarities," Conboy said.

Conboy said it would be different if the homeowner threatened city employees by saying the expletive, but on the lawn, it's a passive statement protected by the 1st Amendment.

"As much as you might shake your head at what kind of reasoning is involved, it's not prohibited," Conboy said. "A person who wants to make a statement in public, that doesn't invoke a violent response, is protected by the constitution."

Conboy said he is "disappointed" that someone would use his 1st Amendment rights in such a manner.

City codes dictate that lawns taller than 10 inches can be ticketed, but Parks and Planning officials said that unless the grass that formed the expletive met that criterion, there was nothing they could do to force its removal.

"Bart, you had to know that burning your name in forty-foot letters on the lawn would mean that you would get caught."

"Maybe it was one of the other Barts..."

"THERE ARE NO OTHER BARTS!"