You mean this can go two ways? And naturally this is probably national news that proves Mormons are bigoted homophobes and violent too!

Couldn't possibly be someone who is just tired of the bigoted anti church hateful rantings of the gay community..now way.

You're right. This totally justifies all the hate and bigotry thrown at the LDS Church.

As a beer drinker, I'd like a copy of that sign.

Sorry to say that there is no proof for anyone to claim a Mormon did this. I understand why ONE would do this...but I also understand why someone against the LDS Church would too.

Also, be careful using the word bigot.

Anyone who likes the LA Lakers watch out because Bull fans are going to come picket in front of your home until you change your mind.

Anyone who prefers Coke as opposed to Pepsi watch out because Pepsi lovers are going to hunt you down and bug you because they think pepsi is better.

Anyone who likes grape jelly not peach be prepared to have a ton of peach lovers throwing peaches at you and call you names because apparently no on can have differences in believes in the country.

People donated money to support prop 8. Lots of different people from all walks of life. It was voted on. It passed....

There is very little that is clear in this article.

Whoever burned the signs clearly committed an act that should not be tolerated.

I wish church members had more patence, more love for their enemies, and lived up to Jesus' admonition to pray for them that despitefully use us more.

Of corse, there is no evidence that the person who started the fire was a member of the church.

Because taste in sports team, soft drinks, and spreadable sandwich condiments is completely analogous to who you're born attracted to.

Do you people ever think before you post?

America,land of the free? hmmm only for some people is the way it tends to be, if you follow all the rules and do as you are told

Thank you hmmm. You make a really good point. By the way it was not the mormon church that started all of this. It was the catholic church and christians alike.

Who cares who started what????
I'm sick and tired of this soap opera. Every person has the right to express their ideas and preferences period! Stop attacking others for their beliefs and whatever or whoever they voted for... let's move on with life now.

who cares, its just a burned sign. And if LDS people were the cause they need to wise up. Acts like this just give anti-pop 8 people more publicity then they deserve.

The signs should not have been burned and whoever did it, LDS or not, should be ashamed. The people who made the signs have the right to make their voices heard as well. There have been stupid actions performed by only a few on each side of the issue and, unfortunately, it's smearing the images of both sides. But I agree. The public wanted it put to a vote.... they got it. Gay marriage is banned in California. Move on.

Hate is toxic. You think the LDS Church would have learned that by now. The Prop. 8 battle is going to haunt the Church for years to come.

Everyone should agree that it's wrong to torch people's signs on their own property, regardless of what the signs say.

But then again, a lot of things that should be obvious apparently aren't--like the irony in gay rights people accusing Mormons of hatred and bigotry as they threaten our tax-exempt status and shut down our temples. Or the difference between 19th-century Mormons polygamists wanting to be left alone and gays wanting official governmental endorsement of their unions. Or the blatant bias in how the major news networks are reporting this.

How many of the protestors really try to understand the Mormon viewpoint? How many of them have gone to the LDS Newsroom website and read the interview with Elders Oaks and Wickman?

I bet they burned it themselves just to get press coverage. It worked.

@Hoax

Knowing the tenants there, I can assure you it was not their handiwork.

I find it so sad that some would blame the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints for what the people voted on. Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained by God. It is just that simple. Clearly all this anger and hatefulness is not the way to go about a disagreement with a law and comes from a source that is not of God.

News flash!
Disagreement does not equal hate. I've had disagreements with my wife but I've never stopped loving her and I've certainly never hated her.

How sad it must be to see the world through a lens where anyone that disagrees with you is interpreted as hateful. What a confused and pitiable world view that is.

If it was an LDS person or persons who did this, shame on them. If it was not an LDS person, shame on them. If it was someone on the No on 8 side, shame on them.

The pro 8 signs in California have pretty much vanished from sight now, and the no on 8 signs live on. Wonder where all the yes on 8 stolen and defaced signs ended up, besides the ones I constantly saw crumpled up in gutters? One trio of teenagers was caught in the act with 53 stolen yes signs in their car on one night.

Oh, by the way, if the person(s) go on the lawn to burn signs, steal them, or deface them - an additional charge of trespassing on private property is applicable.

Hope the Salt Lake police remember to add trespassing to the charges if they ever find these people. Also, what about malicious mischief, or intent to incite a riot or something. There should be plenty of good stuff to charge them with. Don't forget to watch the protesters too, if they set foot on private property - get em!

By the way, I voted yes on 8, but couldn't afford to donate. However, two wrongs will never make a right. I urge all who believe in the yes vote to simmer down and let the out-of-control element in the protests shoot themselves in the foot.

I am proud of my membership in the Church. It means a lot to me. I also became a citizen two presidential campaigns ago, and exercised my right to vote every time an election was held, and have been called to jury duty FOUR times in that time. I should not have to feel frightened because of the vote I cast, or simply because I am a member of any Church.

A staged events to make LDS look bad. The beers should be a clue. Not only stupid but just plain tasteless. LDS memebers would never be involved in this action. Get over yourselves antis.

My 80 year old mother's "Yes to Prop 102" sign in Arizona was ripped and thrown all over her yard 4 times before the election. She just kept taping it back together and putting it back in her yard.

Bullies. They are grown up bullies. If you cross them, they will beat you up. So you'd better just agree with them now, and give up your lunch money, and save yourself a beating. Don't ever try to be yourself with your own opinions, because they will call you names and give you a hard time, the tolerant, loving bullies.

The pest comment is from the 6:07 commentator.

Why have there not been articles about all the vandalism and detruction of Yes on 8 and Yes on 102 and similar signs?

I guess it is because the newspaper would turn into a sign vandalism register if that was the case. This sign burning is news because destruction of the antis signs are so rare.

However, it is not even clear who put up the sign that burned , let alone who burned it.

Re:Matthew,
News Flash
This specific disagreement has ended up in a hateful and angry manner. and that was the only thing I was referring to.Disagreement should be only that a disagreement, but when you factor in anger and hate you see the the awful lengths people will go to. I think you took my comment(on one incident) way out of context, and have assumed my outlook on the world is pitiful.

Again this was not a staged event, and what does the fact that there are beer bottles or funny stickers on their door have to do with this hate crime.
I find it shameful for the deseret new to try to assassinate the character of the people that live there, who are friends of mine and very good people.
Sad to think that one of the people that live in that house is ex-military as well, poor guy put his live on the line for our right to the freedom of speech just to have someone burn it in his front yard.
This was a Shameful act and even more shameful for the commenters who have called it a hoax and went about their day with their blinders firmly attached.

Hoax. Antis trying to make us look bad. Shameful. Beer in the vicinity should tell you lds are not involved. Antis and non-members have no standards. You made yourselves look bad with this one.

The beer bottles were remains from a party from the weekend that didn't get cleaned up. Think it's a hoax all you want; Feel free to talk to the people dropping off their kids at the school nearby that witnessed it.

I am actually more disappointed in those who burned those signs, I would compare it to bombing abortion clinics. I am totally against gay marriage and find the behavior of the gay population very hateful and selfish. But I also find retaliation just as bad, what does that accomplish, but showing weakness to a weak group. Whoever did this needs to grow up.

Why isn't all the anti-LDS stuff being called hate crimes? Like the death threats on the internet against Mormons, etc. If half of this protesting was being done to the gay community, or another "squeaky-wheel" group, the jails couldn't hold all the people the police would be bringing in!

How is this even newsworthy? We have a crushing economy, wars on 2 fronts, a newly elected president and the Des News is printing a story about a home made sign that was lit a blaze. The fire crew that was passing by didn't see anybody close to the scene. It's not like this thing could flame on for hours like a forest fire. Its duration would be seconds at best. Ironically the hammer was left in the front yard and nobody answered the door?? It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes, not even Larry Holmes, to tell you that the perpetrator lives at the house, didn't answer the door, and is trying to frame his LDS neighbors. Please print something news worthy. I am begging you. PLEASE

Why is this a religious issue. I'm not religious at all but I can still figure out that gay marriage is wrong for society.

These antis should have to to pay for the firemans time let alone shame they tries to put on LDS. This is sad.

It sounds like, in your opinion, Christians and Catholics are different than Mormons. And I thought Mormons claimed to be Christen... not by their actions in California and not by your own statement as a Mormon. Your church cannot have it both ways.

To"Another Comment" Thank you for your comments!

I am proud to be an LDS and a faithful support of my Leaders. As a naturalized citizen of this great nation, I am proud of that too! It is heart broken to watch the Church been attacked but we will prevail.

There are a lot of possiblities who the culprit(s) are, but these signs sounded like the types used to protest. You have to ask yourself how would someone get a hold of such signs? Would they make them just to burn? No, because burning them would destroy the words, so your point of LDS people having hate would be missed. Besides, these kind of crimes are usually not premeditated, they are impromptu. My guess is that protestors were looking for a way to get rid of the signs they had used the day before.

As a LDS member i say bring it on. How can we as members of the LDS church expect that standing up for what is right will be easy when it was never easy for our Savior who DIED FOR WHAT HE STOOD UP FOR. Get ready for the end of the world, and the opposition we WILL face. This issue and ones similar are what we can call a weeding out process; it will determine those who really believe what they say they do. All of this is predicted in the BIBLE, read the story of sodom gomora.

Way to be objective in your reporting, Deseret. Could you describe that sinful abode in any more graphic detail? That sounds almost as terrifying as any given street one could walk down in Salt Lake.

I feel bad for the poster of the sign, and I feel worse for the burner of the sign. This is the kind of stuff that happened just before the fall of Sodom and Gomorah. Greece and Rome began the practice of Homosexual marriages and they soon fell. Here we are in America, the greatest nation in the history of the world, and what are we on the brink of? This is so sad, but the mainstream says, The Gay Community has rights! Sure they have rights, but the thing is this, they don't have the right to impose their will on the majority! Those who do not repent, and who are not prepared will suffer, even some of the righteous will suffer, but the good news is those who choose the right need not fear, those who have their food storage, need not fear, those with strong families need not fear, and those who "fear God" need not fear. Remember always who is in charge, and that all is in the hands of god. Always count your blessings, always know that God is in supreme control, and have faith. Always have faith and you will not fail.

Shame on those who burned and tore up the signs. But the question remains: Who gives rights? God. God gives rights. "All men are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. . ." Government protects these. Ours is a representative government and has constitutional protections of the right of free speech. If those who are affected cannot speak, how are they to be represented? All individuals and organizations are affected by laws and judicial decisions. Governments are influenced by private individuals and public and private organizations all the time. Why, then, do those opponents of prop. 8 wish to silence, through intimidation, and lawsuits, the voice of opposition? Is this not a free land? Are we not all invited to come to the table to discuss the issues? If a group, religious or not, represented by their government is denied access to the political process, as the opponents of 8 would like, then we do not have a free country and the rights of all people are at risk. Religiosity of a participant in the political process has nothing to do with the issue. All groups should speak, and should be protected in their right to do so.

One single sign critical of the LDS church is burned and it generates more news articles than all the articles ever written about the tens of thousands of 'Yes on Prop 8' signs that were vandalized before the election. Hmmm...

I'll bet he did it himself to get attention

at a time when america is about to hit poverty and war can brake out. we are worried about some funny sign in some ones yard that got burn because a couple of teenagers just wanted to have some fun. waste of time.

A cheap cardstock sign goes up in smoke and it makes the news. Was there really nothing more important to cover?

Hungry children? Elderly people in need? Lost employment? Something?

(Incidentally, some kids rang my doorbell and ran away a few nights ago. It wasn't covered in your paper. Why not?)

So the guy who owned the house said the fire was "obviously done by a small-minded individual with no concept of freedom of speech." Obviously HE is the small minded one for posting such a childish sign like that in the first place.

When property damage is inflicted on LDS churches, the LDS faithful bigots cry out "Look how horrible and intolerant the gay community is!"

But when an LDS bigot burns these signs, they say "Don't blame the entire church for the behavior of one or two people!"

Hypocrisy, thy name is Mormon!

I am sick of this, gays are attacking the church and it is not a hate crime, however if something negative is said against gays then look out!

"[W]e simply want the church to keep their ideas of morality on the pulpit and not in legislation."

In other words, "We don't want the Church to practice what it preaches. That's just not fair."

I think we can all agree that this sort of behavior should be condemned and discouraged. It doesn't seem likely at this point that we will ever know who did it, and I don't think it does any good to throw around unfounded accusations. To anyone, from either side, even considering doing something like this: DON'T. This will only provoke an escalated response, and we don't want a repeat of Haun's Mill.

Call the ACLU