OVERLAND PARK, Kan., June 6 (UPI) -- A group of concerned citizens have started a petition to remove a statue from a Kansas park they deem obscene.
Phillip Cosby, the director of the Kansas and Missouri chapter of the American Family Association, George Hsu, a minister with Emmanuel Chinese Baptist Church, and Joanne Hughes, a Stillwell resident, met with Overland Park Mayor Carl Gerlach Tuesday and requested the statue be removed from the Overland Park Arboretum, The Kansas (Mo.) Star reported.
They say the statue, which depicts a bare-breasted woman photographing herself, violates state law by promoting obscenity to children and should be moved to a location intended for an adult audience, such as the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Mo.
The mayor denied their request to remove the statue, titled "Accept or Reject" by artist Yu Chang.
Now, the group has started a petition to compel a Johnson County District Court judge to convene a grand jury to investigate the alleged state law violations.
Cosby said they aims to collect 4,000 signatures of registered Johnson County voters, which may take six to eight weeks.
The group said they were forced to petition for a grand jury because the Overland Park City Council denied their attempts to schedule a meeting to discuss the statue.
"It gave us no recourse but to begin the grand jury process," Cosby said.
