Sandy Hook Memorial Sign Stolen; Man Calls Grieving Mother To Say Shooting Never Happened

A man claiming to have stolen a sign from a playground dedicated to Sandy Hook shooting victim Grace McDonnell, called her mother to say he did so because he believes the shooting never happened.

CBS reports that the 50-pound sign was stolen last Tuesday, about a week after the opening of the playground at the YMCA in Mystic, Conn.

"It's sad there are ignorant people who have to show their hatred in a place that was built by a community that shared and expressed their love for the families in Newtown who witnessed evil," Bill Lavin, founder of The Sandy Ground Project, said in a statement to CBS.

The playground is one of 26 being built throughout the tri-state area through The Sandy Ground Project: Where Angels Play. The shooting at Sandy Hook School, on Dec. 14, 2012, claimed the life of 20 first graders and six educators — and each park is being named in honor of a victim.

A replacement peace sign has been ordered for Grace's playground, according to CBS.

Following the shooting, conspiracy theories became popular on the internet. Salon noted that "One reason for the explosive growth of the movement is that it builds on existing conspiracy theories, especially classic “black helicopters” anti-government paranoia and theories surrounding 9/11."

In January 2013, the Christian Science Monitor noted that Gene Rosen was facing harassment. Rosen's crime? He had taken six terrified children into his garage on the day of the shooting.

"If you're a gun owner, you don't want it all blamed on your group. So you adopt a conspiracy theory that blames it on someone else," said Jeffrey L. Pasley, an associate professor of history at the University of Missouri in Columbia. "Naturally people start coming up with different stories."