SOMERSET, Pa. -- Opponents of the proposed United Airlines Flight 93 memorial today presented a petition with more than 5,000 signatures of people who believe the design contains Islamic symbols - such as a crescent - and should be scrapped.

"It is truly unfortunate that I must come a third time to warn that you are about to make a terrible mistake in moving the chosen Flight 93 memorial design to construction," Bill Steiner, of Mt. Pleasant, told a meeting of the advisory commission for the memorial at the Somerset County Courthouse.

Mr. Steiner said he was speaking on behalf of Tom Burnett Sr., whose son died when the plane was hijacked by terrorists and crashed in a field in Shanksville on Sept. 11, 2001.

But commission members said the petition wouldn't have any effect on the construction schedule, and several family members of victims spoke out against the opponents.

"I don't get it. I really don't get it," said Christine Fraser, of New Jersey, whose sister died on the flight.

The first phase of the project is scheduled to be finished in 2011, in time for the 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. About 40 percent of the memorial will be completed by then, at a cost of about $22.5 million. The memorial's capital campaign has raised $12.5 million to date, according to the commission.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.