A grieving mother in a B.C.’s Okanagan Valley has been told it’s against the law to place flowers on a bench dedicated to the memory of her murdered daughter.

For more than five years, Charrie Fichter and her family have been placing flowers at a bench located on Peachland, B.C.’s picturesque waterfront. The bench is a memorial to Fichter’s daughter, 16-year-old Ashlee Hyatt, who was stabbed to death outside a party in 2010.

Fichter visits the bench every day.

“If I’m having a really bad day I’ll just come and bring a little bit more, put a little butterfly onto the flowers,” she told CTV Vancouver.

It was only recently pointed out that placing flowers on benches is against municipal bylaws. Some of Peachland’s city councillors believe there shouldn’t be any exceptions to the rule.

Peachland Coun. Keith Thom said he’s worried about “how our walkway may look if we allow it on every single bench in town.”

Council voted on the issue once, and they’re expected to vote on it again in November.

Fichter’s friends are hoping things go in her favour this time.

“Hopefully they have a change of heart and allow her to keep doing it without the fight,” her friend Kym Readman said. “There just shouldn’t be a fight over flowers.”

Another Peachland resident echoed that sentiment.

“What harm does it do to anybody else to have a family member have a place to come and remember the person that they loved,” Rose Kristiansen said.

Fichter says she’d like to continue her act of remembrance. “Leave us alone,” she said. “I’ve harmed nobody. “

With files from CTV Vancouver