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Ten Commandments Monument Moved to Think-Tank

 

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A Ten Commandments monument is now in storage at a conservative think tank a few blocks away from the Oklahoma Capitol.

The granite marker was moved to the offices of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs overnight. The state is paying a contractor about $4,700 for the job.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court decided in June that the display violates a state constitutional prohibition on the use of public property to support "any sect, church, denomination or system of religion."

Lawmakers authorized the privately-funded monument in 2009. It's been a lightning rod for controversy since it was erected in 2012, prompting a lawsuit from a Baptist minister from Norman who complained it violated the state constitution.

The original monument was smashed last year when someone drove a car across the Capitol lawn and crashed into it. A new one was erected in January.