Foster dad of ten fights back against ordinance board with giant American flag

A father of seven in Florida is fighting back against local officials who slapped him with nine violations after he removed a Christmas tree from his property.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Brent Greer was visited by a code enforcement officer at his Bradenton home, who informed him he would have to remove an old Christmas tree that was on his deck due to an anonymous complaint from a neighbor.

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After Greer complied, he was hit with more complaints, including peeling paint and the need for a pressure wash.

Greer, a married foster father of seven children, says he has more important things to worry about than aesthetic repairs, especially since the house is safe for his large family, he says.

In order to fight back against the violation, Greer, who grew up in and inherited the 100-year-old home, decided to take a rather unorthodox approach, and send a message at the same time-by painting his house like an American flag.

"I want to remind people that this is America," he said. "This is the home of the free, and I'm not changing because I have some zoning ordinance that doesn't like the way I express myself."

Greer had left the tree up, as wells as other Christmas decorations because of his oldest daughter: "We got our oldest daughter when she was 10. She had been homeless all her life and never even knew what a Christmas tree was. So yeah, I go all out with Christmas trees and other decorations for that very reason."

He said that he has complied with most of the complains and is still working on others, but the house's new paint job is going to stay. "I'm not going to paint over it," he said. "I like it."

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