‘It violates our rules’: Cemetery officials tell family to remove headstone with middle finger images

A fight has erupted over images on a headstone at a Colorado cemetery, with the facility manager insisting it be changed because “inappropriate images” violate its rules, and family members rejecting any suggestions for alterations.

A Colorado Springs family is fighting Evergreen Cemetery’s demand to remove a headstone featuring middle finger images after five years without complaints.https://t.co/TJQgp9se7s

— Denver7 News (@DenverChannel) February 12, 2026

It is the Geschke family that is battling the determination from officials at Evergreen Cemetery near Colorado Springs that those images that could offend people are not allowed.

According to Channel 7 in Denver, while the headstone, recognizing the burial place for two Geschke brothers, has been around of a few years, cemetery manager Cheryl Godbout said the issue only recently came to her attention.

The cemetery rules state, “No words or images may be engraved on a memorial that would be considered profane or offensive to the general public.”

The middle finger images qualify, she told the broadcast outlet.

“Once I was made aware of it, then I had to do something. It would not have been right of me to know about it, knowing it violates our rules and to ignore our rules,” Godbout said.

Holly Geschke, a sister, said, “This is a symbol of love and Geschke blood through and through.”

She added, “This was created with so much love, respect, and loyalty to our brothers. This is speaking to the character of not who they were but who we are as a family.”

The cemetery has committed to remove the headstone but keeping it intact for the family.

Geschke family members said they do not have plans to make any changes.