LA HABRA, Calif. -- The trashing of a 9-11 memorial by antiwar protesters has angered people who created the display and prompted complaints about a lack of action by police.

Jeff Collison said Tuesday he intends to file a complaint against protesters seen burning and ripping up flags, flowers and patriotic signs decorating a chain link fence at his rental car lot in the suburb east of Los Angeles.
The demonstrators went beyond exercising their rights during the Saturday afternoon protest, he said.

"Apparently the police are telling me it's a constitutional right to vandalize my property," he said. "I don't think I can go over to your house, trash it and be protected under the First Amendment."

In a story published Tuesday by the Whittier Daily News, police Capt. John Rees said demonstrators were exercising their right to freedom of speech -- just as those who erected the memorial had done.

"For this to be vandalism, there had to be an ill-will intent," Rees said.

Collison must file a complaint for police to take action, he told the newspaper.

However, in a prepared statement Tuesday, the La Habra Police Department said it was "actively seeking the individual(s) responsible for these crimes" and asked for the public's help in finding them.

Neither Rees nor a spokeswoman for the department immediately returned phone calls on Tuesday.

People who created the memorial were outraged by the incident.

"It's unbelievable because there were absolutely no political messages on this fence," said Tracy Chandler, who has cared for the display since it was erected after the Sept. 11 attacks. "It was all about supporting our troops, which could mean bringing them home, and about remembering 9-11."