Megan Lloyd told local reporters that her husband built the cross for their wedding a little more than a year ago, and the family placed it in their yard at Easter. "It's very important to us, and it felt like a good way to express our home," Lloyd said.

The family intended to leave the cross up, but began receiving notices from the HOA asking them to remove it. After some back and forth, Lloyd said, the family received a letter stating the issue had been resolved. Eleven weeks later, she said, the board called her and her husband to a hearing about the cross.

At that hearing, according to Lloyd, board members said the cross could be viewed as a symbol of hate associated with the Ku Klux Klan. She said the comparison stunned her family. "We were just stunned by it, because the cross does not represent any of that," she said.

In a letter to the Lloyds, the HOA said the cross was not "in harmony with the general surroundings of the lot or with adjacent buildings or structures." The letter also raised concern that "allowing a large cross to be displayed will be perceived as approval of a Christian Symbol."

Lloyd said the family disagrees with the board's decision and believes it is being treated unfairly. "Nowhere in there did it say you cannot express your faith, but according to them, we didn't have that right," she said.

Attorney Benjamin Karb of Kirk Palmer & Thigpen provided a statement on behalf of the board. "The Board conducts its business in accordance with the Association's governing documents and applicable law. Because this matter concerns an individual owner, the Board has no comment regarding the specific allegations or circumstances," the statement read. "The Board recognizes that religious symbols can carry different meanings and significance for different individuals. What the Board can state unequivocally is that it does not condone hate of any kind."

Lloyd said she wants clarity on where the board draws the line on what residents may display, particularly as the holidays approach. "Where is the line that states, 'You can have this, but you can't have this,'" she said. "'You can only have it on these days, but you can't have it on this?'"

The family plans to put the cross back up for the holidays and hopes to work with the board to keep it in the yard.

The dispute highlights the broad authority that North Carolina homeowners associations hold over the appearance of private property, and the friction that can arise when architectural and landscaping rules collide with residents' personal and religious expression. It also underscores the sensitivity of religious symbolism in public-facing spaces, where the same object can carry sharply different meanings for different neighbors.

For now, the Lloyds say they are seeking a written standard they can follow, rather than a case-by-case decision made behind closed doors.