COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — A Coeur d'Alene cemetery is facing backlash following new rules that prohibit memorials on gravesites.
The Memorial Gardens Cemetery on North Government Way took urns, flowers and other decorations off of graves and put them in the waste area.
Losing a child is devastating. Losing another within two years is Jill Monroe's reality. Now, she can't even memorialize their graves.
The cemetery decided to change their rules about rituals and decorations.
"There was nothing," said Monroe. "There were no flowers, there was nothing."
Monroe goes to the cemetery for every celebration and brings along her eight grandchildren. Her sons Greg and Geoff are both cremated and their urns sit on top of their gravestones.
"Even the urns are gone," she said with a tear. "Why would you go to the cemetery now? Why would the kids? Why would we come here knowing their dads aren't here?"
Monroe stumbled across the cemetery's Facebook page and found out that on Oct. 1, the new manager decided to do a "winter clean-up."
In a Facebook post, they announced they would be removing all tributes from the graves. This hit Monroe hard, as her sons' urns technically count as memorials.
She decided to make her own post, alerting her friends. But then it went viral.
"I had hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of shares," she added. "No one had a clue the cemetery was taking away our things."
GALLERY: Coeur d'Alene Memorial Gardens Cemetery
With Veterans Day coming up, she took a stand so Airborne Ranger Greg could be at his grave and with his flags.
The cemetery holds about 7,000 people, with almost 20% of the deceased being veterans. With this new rule, all flags would be removed from the gravesites.
The cemetery says this plan was made to combat snow. After facing hundreds of angry commenters and phone calls, Memorial Gardens' Rick Poe agreed to make some changes.
"I understand why people are upset," Poe said. "Because of the public outcry, we're gonna change it back to Veterans Day, November 11."
The cemetery has heard the commenters and wants to make things right, according to Poe. He extended the time to pick up your items and replace it on your graveside by at least two weeks, he said.
However, he is not the manager, so the details will still need to be worked out. He does have a good idea about how to fix this for the Spring.
"Maybe put a kiosk up front and have a pamphlet with the rules and regulations and the times someone can visit on it," he said.
Poe also assured people that flags will be returned and will be flying on Veterans Day. When asked about why they were taken down to begin with, he said when they are snowplowing, they might hit and break materials.
Thanks in part to Monroe, about 1,200 flags will remain up on Veterans Day. The cemetery is requesting people to come collect their stuff from the dump and promises to save as much as they can for as long as they can.
"I am just happy to feel like I helped someone," said Monroe with a smile. "I just need more communication from the cemetery and I think everyone does moving forward."