North Port Removes Gabby Petito Memorial From Laundrie Yard, Says It Violates Code: Report

NORTH PORT, FL — In the weeks since Gabby Petito was first reported missing and after she was found dead, protesters have placed signs honoring her memory, stuffed animals, flowers and other items outside the North Port home of her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, the only person of interest in her death.

North Port employees removed the makeshift memorial from in front of the Wabasso Avenue home, where Laundrie’s parents still live, Wednesday night for violating city code, Fox News reported.

Among the signs removed were ones targeting the Laundrie family, including one that read “The Laundries Loads of Lies” and another that included a picture of Petito with the words “Remember Me?” over her head.

Josh Taylor, a spokesperson with the city, told Fox News the items were removed because of severe weather expected Thursday and complaints of code violations.

Sarasota County is under a tornado watch through 5 p.m. Thursday and rain showers and thunderstorms are expected in the area throughout the day, according to the National Weather Service.

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"Ahead of severe weather today, the city of North Port has received several complaints about signs located on Wabasso Avenue," Taylor said. "Per city sign code and storm water code, these signs are in violation and are not allowed in the road right-of-way."

He told Newsweek two city code violations related to “accumulation of debris” and “maintenance of stormwater drainage area.”

Laundrie and Petito, both Long Island, New York, natives living with his family in Florida, were traveling across the country visiting national parks this summer when she disappeared at the end of August.

Her body was found weeks later, on Sept. 19, near Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park. A coroner determined her cause of death to be homicide by strangulation.

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Laundrie returned home alone to Florida in Petito's van Sept. 1 and was reported missing by his parents Sept. 17.

Authorities spent more than a month looking for him. His skeletal remains, including a portion of his skull, were found in the Carlton Reserve and the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in Sarasota County, along with several of his belongings, Oct. 20. The FBI used dental records to match the remains to Laundrie.

No cause of death could be determined after an autopsy Friday and his bones were sent to a forensic anthropologist for further examination.