An anonymous complaint against a small cross in the yard of some Christian homeowners has led to a community development district paying out nearly a quarter of a million dollars.

Wayne and Bonnie Anderson were notified on April 1, 2019, that their 1-foot white cross was in violation of yard decoration standards at The Villages.

'In law, there has to be harm — what's the harm? What's behind all this? Something sinister, I guess.'

"I thought it was an April Fool's Day joke," Wayne Anderson said. "We call it a religious icon; they call it yard art — like the same with pink flamingos."

He says that someone anonymously complained, and the Village Community Development District 8 began to fine him $25 for each day that he refused to take the cross down.

"The last I heard it was $44,000

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