covered hitler billboard.jpg

Life Savers Ministries billboard at Village Mall in Auburn was covered over late Tuesday morning. (Provided by Julie Burns)

AUBURN, Alabama -- Before noon today, Lamar Advertising covered up a billboard featuring a quote from Adolf Hitler next to image of five smiling children.

The company made the change per the request of the Opelika-based Life Savers Ministries who paid for it.

The quote taken from a 1935 speech on the Nazi youth movement stated: "He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future."

It was printed above a Bible verse.

"We are pulling the billboard and certainly never intended to cause confusion. ... Herbert Hoover would have been a far better one to quote when he said, 'Children are our most valuable resource,'" the founder of Life Savers Ministries James Anderegg told the Ledger-Enquirer. "We are a children's organization and had honorable intentions and nothing less."

The billboard went up Friday at Village Mall in Auburn, but sparked controversy after garnering media attention on Monday.

Life Savers Ministries didn't return messages seeking comment by AL.com.

According to its website, Life-Savers Ministries was founded in October 1996 in what was formerly known as the Hardaway Housing Projects in Opelika in an attempt to reach at-risk youth.

The organization later moved to 1901 Waverly Pkwy in Opelika and serves hundreds of children, according to the website.

Vote in the AL.com poll: Is it inappropriate to promote the words of a person like Hitler, regardless of the message?

Updated at 2:14 p.m. to include that the billboard has been covered.