PETA asks Maine for permission to honor dead lobsters with a big roadside gravestone

Joel Shannon | USA TODAY

Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has asked officials for permission to erect a 5-foot tombstone to mark the site of an August truck crash that spewed lobsters into a Maine road.

If the state's Department of Transportation grants the request, PETA says it will memorialize the "countless sensitive crustaceans" who were killed during the Aug. 22 crash in Brunswick, Maine, according to a Wednesday release from the group.

The gravestone would read "In Memory of the Lobsters Who Suffered and Died at This Spot" and urge people to "Try Vegan," according to a mockup published by the group.

The crash referenced involved truck carrying 7,000 pounds of lobster. After the truck rolled over, traffic backed up for hours as crews attempted to clear the street of the crustaceans.

Brunswick Police Department told local CBS affiliate WGME-TV that several lobsters were crushed as a result of the crash.

The Department of Transportation is reviewing PETA's request, but roadside memorials can only be placed near a road for up to 12 weeks and are limited in size by state law, MaineDOT spokesman Ted Talbot told The Portland Press Herald.

PETA says it hopes the memorial will discourage passerby from eating the sea creatures, which are often boiled alive in the food preparation process.

The attempt is the latest activism effort from PETA to make national headlines.

Last week, the group funded a billboard showing a picture of a crab with the words, "I'm me, not meat. See the individual. Go vegan" in Baltimore.

A few days earlier, the group succeeded in its efforts to change the packaging of Barnum's Animals, a classic Nabisco snack — removing the cages that once held the exotic animals pictured on the iconic packaging.

Contributing: The Associated Press.