Rehoboth Beach's ban on allowing a Christmas nativity scene on public property has ended up in federal court, where the local Knights of Columbus argue the city's stance violates their civil rights.

Rehoboth Beach allows secular holiday displays on city property, and the Catholic group asserted the city shouldn't have been permitted to ban religiously affiliated displays specifically for being religious.

The Knights of Columbus Star of the Sea Council said the policy violates the First and 14th amendments. The lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware also names Mayor Paul Kuhns and City Manager Sharon Lynn.

Roger Byron, of the First Liberty Institute, who is representing the Knights of Columbus, said the city is openly defying the law.

"Two things are crystal clear: One, it's perfectly lawful to have a crèche or a nativity on public property," Byron said. "It is blatantly unlawful to ban religious displays from public property. That is, inarguably, a violation of the First Amendment."

Historically, various Christmas-themed displays have appeared annually on Rehoboth Beach's public Bandstand Circle and boardwalk, including a nativity scene, Christmas tree, light displays and the "Santa's house," the latter of which is put up by the Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce, a private organization.

"The city's actions were thoughtful, inclusive and observant of the rights embodied in the U.S. Constitution," a statement released Thursday from the city of Rehoboth Beach read. "Accordingly, the city intends to aggressively defend the uninformed lawsuit filed by the Knights of Columbus.

A crèche has been displayed in the Bandstand Circle since the 1930s, the complaint states. It was previously put up by the Kiwanis Club of Coastal Delaware, but the Knights of Columbus took on that role in 2018.

According to the complaint, the Knights' understanding, based on conversation with Kuhns and Lynn, was that they could put up a nativity scene that year as long as other religious entities were given the chance to put up displays of their own. They put the crèche at Bandstand Circle after reportedly asking other churches and the Seaside Jewish Community Center if they wanted to participate, though none opted to do so.

The day after the crèche was put up, the complaint states Lynn called Saint Edmond Church, with which the Knights of Columbus are affiliated, and demanded it be taken down, a mandate the church complied with.

The issue was discussed at later City Board of Commissioners' meetings, where Kuhns and Lynn allegedly the crèche would not be allowed because it is a religious symbol, according to the lawsuit. Kuhns said having any religiously affiliated holiday displays on public property was against city policy, and in October 2019, Lynn allegedly informed the church that the Chamber of Commerce was offering its property half a mile away from the Bandstand Circle as an alternative site. The Knights' request to have the crèche placed near the Santa's house was denied by Lynn in December.

In their complaint, the Knights of Columbus assert that because the Chamber of Commerce is allowed to display a secular holiday scene, not allowing them to set up a religious holiday display publicly shows viewpoint and religious discrimination and violates the Knights' constitutional right to freely exercise their religion.

"In the action, the Knights of Columbus failed to acknowledge that the city collaborated with both religious and secular groups within the community to secure a prominent location for the placement of religious and secular displays during the holiday season," Rehoboth Beach's statement said. "Those efforts, which the city intends to repeat during the 2020 holiday season, delicately balance the constitutional rights of all relating to religion and speech established by the First Amendment."

As of Thursday morning, the defendants were not officially represented by counsel.

The Knights of Columbus are also represented by Michael P. Morton of Morton, Valihura & Zerbato in Greenville, as well as Christopher DiPompeo and Kaytlin L. Roholt of Jones Day in Washington, D.C.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Leonard P. Stark of the District of Delaware.