Outrage of the Day: Utah City Orders Takedown of Kid’s Cardboard Fort

Welcome to Utah, where creativity is a crime.

Jeremy Trentelman recently built his 3-year-old son an epic fort made out of cardboard boxes. The castle-like structure was erected on his front lawn, and apparently the city thought it was just a piece of garbage.

A few days later, an Ogden City official posted a notice on his door saying that the fort needed to be removed within 15 days or else he would be forced to pay a $125 fine. According to the city, it violated Code 12-4-2, which prohibits waste material or junk on your lawn.

Trentelman posted a photo of the notice to Facebook along with a message expressing his outrage.

“Are you freakin’ kidding me?” he wrote. “‘Waste materials or junk’ it says… what about totally awesome fun zone. What a joke!”

His story has since spread online, and he’s been inviting strangers to come over to his house and check it out while it’s still there.

“Hey everyone, I’m home for the rest of the day,” he wrote. “Anyone wanna come play in the box fort?”

After the news broke, someone also created a Facebook page so people should show their support and build forts of their own in protest.

Calling on all the citizens of Ogden to stand in solidarity with Jeremy Trentelman by building cardboard forts in all the front yards throughout the entire city of Ogden.

The moral of the story: Stick to your iPad’s and video games, kids, and don’t even think about recycling. That stuff belongs in the trash.