By Anthony Lonetree

Minneapolis Star Tribune

BELLE PLAINE — A war memorial depicting a soldier kneeling by a cross has been pulled from and may not return to a Belle Plaine park, potentially ending an emotional battle over religious symbolism in public spaces.

The 2-foot steel statue, entitled Joe, was removed by its creators family a day before dueling observances Saturday at Veterans Memorial Park. Its return now is threatened by a Belle Plaine City Council proposal that also would block an anti-religion group from moving ahead with plans to install a satanic monument nearby.

That memorial, a black cube inscribed with pentagrams and topped with an upside-down soldiers helmet, was proposed and approved after the city opened the door by removing, then reinstating Joe earlier this year. The satanic monument could have been the first of its kind erected on public property in the United States.

On Monday, however, the City Council is expected to act on a resolution rescinding a public forum area created in the park to allow for religious statues. It was there in a small grassy plot beneath a hill where Joe was installed and where the Satanic Temples monument would be erected.

Atop the hill on Saturday, more than 150 people attended an hourlong rosary rally organized by America Needs Fatima, a Catholic nonprofit. They prayed, many on their knees, while some carried signs, one reading: Satan belongs in hell, not Veterans Memorial Park.

Sitting on a picnic blanket nearby were supporters of Minnesotas Left Hand Path Community. They have defended the satanic monument, but were prepared to let it go if the city were to reverse course by deciding to bar all religious symbols from the park.