1st amendment => these cops should be jailed.

Without a doubt. The irony is all those old burnouts elect this kind of moron. They made their (rock) beds, now they can lie in them.

Truly. Things that seem trivial become large because of good intentions used in a manner unintended. Ruinous in many instances. And the power trips overcome even the most modest.

I suspect that whatever petty minded bureaucrat went after this guy is probably on board with Agenda 21 and the US claiming control over all "navigable" waterways.

How dare you move rocks in The Peoples' brook!
Back to your centrally planned pack-n-stack apartment complex!

Yikes. It good there's a river to keep things at least slightly separated...

You're probably more right about that than many would be comfortable with.
It does cause a pain in the head...

There is a house about a mile or so from where I live that has these all around the house, stacked on the tops of the stone walls. It's kind of cool looking. :-)

It was a bizarre thing to enforce. And find fault with.

Keep Boulder Weird is it. I am from Denver and the People's Republic of Boulder was always that way, or at least since the 60's when I first lived in the area. Still a nice, expensive place with all the leftover hippies and liberals that hate Denver. The University doesn't help at all either, remember that is where Professor Churchill taught his Eichhman lesson.

LOL This is the opposite kind of happy ending where he didn't get his rocks off.

Interesting that the DA can overrule the city council. The whole thing is a bizarre dynamic.

Isn't this interesting! Several years ago, a man went from Washington State to San Diego, along the coast, doing this very thing. I have no idea if it was the same man. "Every rock has a balancing point" he told me. As you can see, one must have patience and steady hands. Try it, it's fun.

It's the city council that's behind the actions of the cops, who otherwise did not give a flip about the stone art for all of seven years.
Some of the cops may even like the art but their job is to enforce laws--even a recently thought up stupid one.
For a moment,think like a Colorado politician who gets elected these days. Not too long. It may hurt your head.
That's how I came--ouch!--to the following conclusion--
That city council is likely a pack of environazis who think nature, especially around running water, should be kept pristine.
In fact, I'll bet they think the world would be a by far better place if we all just dropped dead.

People in governments, no matter how big or how small, just can't seem to keep from exerting power, even if it's in the most trivial of matters. I'm waitng for an edict saying how much toilet paper one is allowed to use by law. (And maybe how to use it.)

This is another example of police acting beyond their scope similar to the NYC and Baltimore killings, simply with a different subject and verb but the same misplaced motives driving dangerous behaviors. Thank goodness the DA is at least a servant to the people (read "politician"), because it remains unclear how much he acted from his own wisdom or to popular pressure.

Boulder has been known for weird form many years. However, watching him stack the rocks, he definitely is in touch with something there. As to the cops, well, lets see, why would there be an increase in thefts and rape, Maybe they should check that one out. Just don't pick up a rock in Colo. or Wyo., no matter how much you think it is cool, they protect those rocks and intend to keep them.

Happy ending -- did he get his rocks off?

Sounds great. Except a moose in the road. That could end badly. And winter up that way is brutal! I visited an uncle up in St. Cloud during the winter years ago. We all walked across the frozen Mississippi River.

To visit my family, we usually fly into northern Minnesota and then drive up 6-8 hours into northern Ontario. The majority of the drive is a windy road cutting through the forest. It is beautiful in the summer. During the winter, however, I spend my time trying not to blink just in case a moose gets onto the road (that happened once).

I was wanting more about the why of it myself. A little digging might be in order.
The drive in Canada sounds beautiful. What part?

These remind me of the Inukshuks we see when we are driving the rural areas of Canada. I tend to enjoy seeing most of them; this guy's structures look nice, too. I'm wondering who he pissed off enough to get the police on him and why it's a big deal. I wish the article would have asked the police for their side of the story.

Nope. Just boneheadedness. Or maybe the cop was as dumb as a box of rocks...

That remains to be seen. My guess is, the sculptor, yes. Maybe the city hall will put up signs...... No Stoners Near The Boulder Sculptures
(Nice play on words there, eh?? Eh?? Elbow to the ribs, nudge nudge..

Keeps the inhabitants in, rather than invaders out..? ;-)

I have heard much about the inhabitants myself. I just kind of was tickled by the subject, river stones, and the where, Boulder. 😁