Controversy first flared when Lisa Desmond, the library’s Endicott branch supervisor, posted about the tree’s absence on Facebook on Dec. 2 after she was told the decoration would not be displayed this year because “‘people’ were made uncomfortable last year looking at it,” she wrote.

“I’m sorry WHAT? In my 28 years at the Dedham Public Library, I have never heard a negative comment,” Desmond wrote. “We have celebrated and included everyone in our community.”