The family of the teenager regularly return to the site to lay flowers and tributes (Picture: Getty)
A homeowner planning to remove a memorial for a teenager who died in a drink-driving accident on their property has received a wave of support on social media.
The four-foot wooden cross was placed alongside some information and pictures by the teen’s family, beside a tree close to the person’s home.
It serves as a reminder of an incident which took place five years ago, when a group of teens driving drunk along the road hit the tree, killing one.
The family and friends of the deceased continue to return to the scene to lay flowers and tributes.
When moving to the new home, the homeowner had ‘gone through trauma’ before, that they wanted to put behind them.
Taking to Reddit, the anonymous individual wrote: ‘I recently purchased a home on a country road.
‘Five years ago some drunk local teenagers wrapped their car around a tree on the property and one died.
‘Their family created a roadside memorial with a 4-foot cross and wooden sign. People come a few times a year and place flowers, notes, etc.’
The post was put up on a popular forum where users debate whether others are in the wrong or the ‘a***hole’ of a situation.
They continued: ‘The memorial is on my property in front of the tree they hit, about 10 feet from the road. I don’t want to see this memorial every day.
‘It’s depressing and reminds me that a tragedy happened here, which I don’t need. I’m trying to get over some stuff.
‘I want this home to be a fresh clean start. But I’m also sensitive to the kid’s family and friends’ feelings.
‘WIBTA [would I be the a**h**e] if I asked the family to take down the memorial?’
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Although fellow Redditors were able to understand the family’s devastation, the majority of users sided with the poster.
One user suggested they have a conversation with the family about the situation: ‘Maybe offer to make a little flowerbed at the foot of the tree where these folks can come leave flowers, but that isn’t a glaring 4ft cross that turns your private home into a public graveyard.
‘I do think it’s weird, especially as time goes on, to keep focusing on the spot the kid died, instead of celebrating a place that was significant to him while he was alive.’
Others sympathised that it would also ‘mess with their head’, and told the user to ‘plant a hedge’ around the site.
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