Object not found(404 Error) in laravel5 application - apache

Question

I am New to Laravel5 framework as I got one task to install a laravel application into my local environment i.e into xampp.
I have copied all folders from the remote server and dumped in the htdocs inside a folder called project i.e(htdocs/project).
the folders i have copied has a public folder in which contains htaccess file and index.php.below is the code in the htaccess file
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
<IfModule mod_negotiation.c>
Options -MultiViews
</IfModule>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^ec\.
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://ec.%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]
#Now, rewrite to HTTPS:
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]
# Redirect Trailing Slashes...
RewriteRule ^(.*)/$ /$1 [L,R=301]
# Handle Front Controller...
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteRule ^ index.php [L]
</IfModule>
This htaccess file i have changed as below to redirect to index page
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
<IfModule mod_negotiation.c>
Options -MultiViews
</IfModule>
RewriteEngine On
# Redirect Trailing Slashes...
RewriteRule ^(.*)/$ /$1 [L,R=301]
# Handle Front Controller...
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteRule ^ index.php [L]
</IfModule>
When I enter the url localhost/project/public it display's index page as
it has username and password field.
when i enter username and password and hit submit it
display's the below error and url will be redirected to localhost/login
Object not found!
The requested URL was not found on this server. The link on the referring page seems to be wrong or outdated. Please inform the author of that page about the error.
If you think this is a server error, please contact the webmaster.
Error 404
Can Any one please help me how to redirect to correct location or some any extra settings to be made so that application should run fine.
Thanks in advance.