A cross has been removed from a St. John's school, following a complaint from a parent who felt uncomfortable with a Christian symbol at a public school.

A worker with the Eastern School District removed the cross at St. Matthew's School in Cowan Heights in just a few minutes on Monday. The cross did not weigh very much, and had been held in place with just eight screws.

The Eastern School District said this spring that legal counsel had advised that a human rights challenge would have been successful.

Christian symbols and names are still common at schools across Newfoundland and Labrador, even though the denominational school system was phased out in the late 1990s.

The majority of people who took part in a September 1997 referendum voted to end the denominational school system, in which school boards came under the auspices of churches.

By the start of the 1998 school year, schools came under non-denominational boards.

The cross from St. Matthew's School has been given to a local church.