'It just disgusts me that people would do that'

'It just disgusts me that people would do that'

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By Molly Blancett KVAL News

ALSEA, Ore -- Ashes are all that is left of a 5-foot cross left burning in Summer MacLean's front yard.

"I guess mostly I'm sad," said MacLean as she stared at the singed grass. "It hurts me."

It's a bitter reminder of a crime she still can't fathom. MacLean said she found the cross the morning of May 9. It was made of wood and covered in a white sheet.

"We were just shocked," MacLean said. "We just stared at it."
    
The likely target, she said, could have been her 13-year-old adopted son, Isaiah Cavanagh, who is black.
    
"I think the people that did this are ignorant, and they had nothing better to do than wasting their time being, well, I shouldn't say this, but stupid," said Cavanagh. "It just disgusts me that people would do that."

The two moved to Alsea less than a year ago after MacLean fell in love with the town, which is located along a highway that runs between the coast and the Willamette Valley near Corvallis.

"That's where I felt like Isaiah and I belonged," MacLean said

KVAL News asked MacLean if she still feels like she belongs in Alsea.

"Mixed feelings right now," she said. "I hope I do someday."

Cavanagh and MacLean said they have a message for whomever left the cross.

"All I got to say is have fun with your sad lives because that's what you are going to have if you do this stuff."

"I hope they find peace somehow," said MacLean. "I would hate to be that miserable."

The Benton County Sheriff's Office is calling this a potential hate crime, but they said they have no idea who is responsible for it. They said the cross was likely left sometime late May 8 or early May 9.

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