PERRYSBURG, Ohio — For more than 28 years, Paul Floering has decorated the grave of his son, Austin Floering, for every holiday and special occasion at Fort Meigs Union Cemetery. Now, cemetery officials are telling him the memorial has to come down.

Austin was 16 when he died in a car accident in 1998, 13abc reported. Since then, his parents have adorned a trellis at his gravesite for every season and holiday.

“He used to imitate that, which would drive me a little bit crazy but he was a great kid, and we miss him very much,” Floering told 13abc, remembering a son who loved Jim Carrey movies, sports and making his family laugh.

During a recent visit to the gravesite, Floering found a note asking him to contact the cemetery office. Staff explained that the decorations and structures at the grave — including the trellis — do not follow the cemetery’s written rules and regulations, which were revised Oct. 18, 2017.

“Instead of just looking at a grave, now it took on a whole new meaning,” Floering said. “28 years and all of a sudden I got to take it down?”

Cemetery Superintendent Richard Greulich Jr. declined an on-camera interview but responded to 13abc by email. He said the grave is not in Paul Floering’s name and that the cemetery had no up-to-date contact information for the family; staff left the note after phone calls and emails went unanswered.

The cemetery confirmed it has reached an agreement with Austin’s family: Floering will be allowed to decorate the grave for one more Christmas before the memorial must be removed.

“It’s going to be an empty spot in my heart and my soul, you know?” Floering said.

Since the story aired, supporters have launched a Change.org petition calling on the Fort Meigs Union Cemetery Board of Trustees and the City of Perrysburg to grant Austin Floering’s memorial a permanent grandfathering exception — and to create written protections for other longstanding memorials at the cemetery.

Photo: Beyond My Ken / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)