A billboard meant to "introduce Portlanders to friendly neighborhood atheists" has been defaced with devil's horns.

The billboard, on Highway 99 at the Ross Island Bridge, is one of 15

before the 35th annual national convention of the Freedom From Religion Foundation in October.

Mark Hecate, Information Technology Director for nonprofit

was one of the scores of Portland-area group members -- from a filmmaker to an income auditor -- who volunteered to be part of the public relations campaign.

His face appears on the 14x18 foot billboard along with the words “This is what an atheist looks like" and now with a set of horns growing from his head.

The horns were reported by email Tuesday to the foundation's Wisconsin headquarters, according to Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.

"It reveals how nonbelievers are still stigmatized, even in a community like Portland, where statistics show that a quarter of the population identifies as nonreligious," she said.

Gaylor declined to say Wednesday how much the billboards cost. The campaign was the group's biggest and it was timed to make a splash when nearly 900 foundation members convened in downtown Portland.

The vandalism will be reported to Portland Police later today and the foundation will offer a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

Asked if atheist billboards have been defaced before, Gaylor said, "Yeah, once in a while. But not with horns. Atheists don't have horns ... it is literally demonizing us."

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