Should they stay, or should they go now?

Gov. John Hickenlooper didn’t give a clear answer to that question Tuesday when asked about the growing Occupy Denver tent camp on a grassy lawn along Broadway that is part of the state Capitol complex.

Interviewed on radio station KOA- AM’s Mike Rosen Show, the Democratic governor and former Denver mayor said he was concerned about the illegal encampment on state property but didn’t indicate that he was prepared to order the State Patrol to clear out the park. Patrol officials said Sunday that they had no plans to remove the tents.

Hickenlooper told Rosen that he was unclear on his legal options.

Rosen asked if the state had told the tent campers they were violating the law.

“We’ve absolutely told them that: ‘You can’t stay here,’ ” Hickenlooper said.

The governor seemed conflicted on the question of what to do about the tents, saying that he has “always supported the First Amendment” but had concerns about the camp.

“I will confess I worry about the precedent,” Hickenlooper said. “If suddenly we have a park where people can camp out whenever they want, why not the next park and why not the park after that? And then suddenly, you don’t have any rules.”

In any case, the governor said, there weren’t many tents on the lawn, saying: “I went down there this morning, and there were like eight tents, 10 tents. This is not a burgeoning metropolis of tents.”

The Denver Post’s count was somewhat higher. As of lunchtime Tuesday, The Post spotted more than 40 tents.

One camper, Thomas Moody, 38, of Topeka, Kan., said he’d been homeless in Denver for more than a month after being stranded by his girlfriend. He said he knew officials had told campers that they were breaking the law.

“I don’t think it’s indefinite,” Moody said, referring to the time he would stay in the park. “If they came up and told us we had to leave, we wouldn’t argue with them. We would pack up our things and go.”

He added, though, “There are people here who would refuse to leave.”

A man who identified himself only as Vincent, 21, from Santa Barbara, Calif., said he had no plans to leave.

“I’m going to stay until the end,” he said. “The end is when people in the offices realize they’ve taken our houses and we have to live in tents.”

How long should campers be allowed to stay in the park?

“Indefinitely,” he said. “Yeah, why not? We voted for change, and what did we get? The change that’s in our pockets.”

Tim Hoover: 303-954-1626 or thoover@denverpost.com