A federal appeals court is weighing Utah's use of crosses on roadside memorials honoring fallen highway patrol troopers.

The group "American Atheists" wants the 12-foot-tall crosses taken down.

A federal judge in Utah ruled in 2007 that the crosses communicated a secular message about death and was not an illegal public endorsement of religion.

But the atheists rejected that court's argument that the cross quote "now falls into the category of the no-longer religious christmas tree."

No word on when the judges may rule on the appeal.