The proposed United States Airlines Flight 93 memorial was criticized by some opponents who said the design included Islamic symbols.

The temporary memorial is located on a hillside 500 yards from the site of the crash of United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked in the September 11, 2001 attacks, in Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania, situated about 2 miles north of Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

One of the opponents, Harry Beam, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, presented a petition filled with 5,300 signatures to put an end to the project of the memorial. The petition was showed to the design members of the Flight 93 boards during the meeting of the Flight 93 Memorial Task Force at the Somerset County Courthouse.

It all began when the Flight 93 Advisory Commission announced a memorial design from Paul Murdoch Architects of Los Angles; the project was called “Crescent of Embrace” and some people saw in the crescent-shape design a symbol of Islam, saying that, in this way, the memorial subtly includes the hijackers alongside the victims in Shanksville, Pa. on September 11th.

“It’s really revolting to me, this whole thing,” Mr. Burnett, a retired high school English teacher from Northfield, Minn, who signed the petition, was quoted as saying by the New York Times. “It’s an insult to my son and all the others,” he added.

As a result, the original title was changed; “Crescent of Embrace” became “Circle of Embrace.” The National Park Service, which supports the construction of the memorial, also changed the design, adding trees to encircle the site.   

On the other hand, the designer rejected the accusations, saying he sees this as a “distortion of the facts” and that he will continue his project with an “overwhelming support for the design.” Paul Murdoch’s project will also include a plaza situated along the edge of the crash site.

“The forms that the design uses come out of the forms of the land,” Mr. Murdoch said. “The framing of that space is like a large-scale embrace, on a scale commensurate of the heroic acts of the people who died there.”