Some people really dislike nudity no matter what the context, even art or attempts to replicate art. In Tennessee, the G&L Garden Center has had to cover up statues that showed a little bit more than some local residents approved of. Of course, now the covered statues are attracting even more attention than they did before.

Kelli Samantha Hewett writes in the Tennessean:

Then, about three weeks ago, two people, one of them a customer, phoned the G&L Garden Center to say it was way too much and asked the owners to please move them around back. But the statues weigh as much as 500 pounds each and are an ordeal to move. So owners Angie Langford and Pam Gregory came up with a different approach to customer service. Nearly a dozen concrete statues are sporting crimson velvet two-piece sarongs — as if Santa had a bikini team.

Now, the attempt at maintaining the girls' roadside modesty is stopping traffic. And yes, some customers are peeking. ''They are pulling the tops and looking underneath,'' Langford said. ''They wonder what we're hiding.'' It's hard to find people who are offended in Hartsville. Across the street from the garden center, workers at Hartsville Gas have full view of the garden center, including the statues. ''I guess some people just don't appreciate art,'' said gas technician Brad Smith, shaking his head.

These aren't especially racy statues - they look a lot like ancient Greek statues which aren't clothed by have arms and legs in positions that cover most of what a person might not want to be looking at. It sounds as though most residents didn't mind the statues and actually think that the attempts to cover them are silly. Good for them!

Read More:

• Recent Books on Free Speech
• Court Decisions on Free Speech and Censorship