Family says teen's roadside memorial keeps being demolished

A Cherokee County family said they are going to have to change a memorial for their son since someone keeps destroying it.

Channel 2's Craig Lucie talked to one family who says a driver has run over it four times in the past month.

Someone drove over the memorial for 19-year-old Brandon Mitcheltree as late as this past Sunday.

“I'd like it to stop. I'd like it to be what it is and be a peaceful place where I can be as close as I can to him,” said the Brandon’s father, Scott Mitcheltree.

That's all the Mitcheltree family is asking for after they have had to repair their son's memorial four times now.

“How do you feel for yourself after ruining a memorial that was there for someone to grieve the loss of a loved one? He was 19 year's old,” Scott said.

Brandon’s life ended the morning of Dec. 27 as he walked to work along East Cherokee Drive in Canton. Since that tragic day, his parents and family members have come to where he took his last breath to pay their respects.

“It’s extremely upsetting knowing that he was hit and killed right here and this is where he laid when the scene was taking place. So that's why we built a memorial here. All I can feel is with someone running it over was once not enough,” Scott said.

Brandon's mother, Melanie Mitcheltree, said she repaired the memorial one morning last month and then drove by it later that day to find it destroyed.

“It was demolished again within three, four hours,” Melanie said.

This past weekend, someone peeled out over the memorial, running over lights that shine on their son's cross and a small fence that surrounds it.

“We used to come two or three times a week and since they started running over it, we are here at least every day, if not, twice a day,” Scott said.

The Mitcheltrees said they will make the memorial smaller, but the cross and the lights will remain. They hope that will prevent this from happening again.

WSBTV