AUSTIN — An atheist group with a history of suing the state is telling its followers to buck the phrase "Don't Mess with Texas!"

The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation has taken to social media to ask for cash to help fund its most recent lawsuit against Texas. Earlier this year, a federal judge ruled that Gov. Greg Abbott had violated the First Amendment by removing the group's nonreligious nativity scene from the Texas Capitol.

Abbott has appealed the ruling, and the foundation says it needs money to continue the suit.

"Your governor, Greg Abbott, has said, 'Our message to atheists is don't mess with Texas. ... We are not going to tolerate or accept these atheist groups,'" the foundation wrote to its supporters. "Please join our legal fight in Texas to defend your rights as a nonbeliever.

"Do mess with Texas Gov. Abbott!"

The foundation has been at odds with Abbott since his days as attorney general, when it complained in 2012 about cheerleaders from a small East Texas town who were displaying banners with Bible verses at school football games. School officials banned the displays, and the cheerleaders fought back, with the support of Abbott and many other top Texas Republicans.

An appeals court eventually sided with the cheerleaders, ruling that the banners represented speech protected by the First Amendment.

Then, in 2016, the foundation sued over its Capitol nativity scene, which replaced Jesus, Mary and Joseph with the Founding Fathers. A state lawmaker sponsored the so-called "Bill of Rights Nativity and Winter Solstice Display," but Abbott ordered it removed the day before it was meant to be taken down.

The foundation sued and won a major victory when U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks ruled that Abbott had "violated [the foundation's] First Amendment rights and engaged in viewpoint discrimination as a matter of law when [its] exhibit was removed from the Texas Capitol building under the circumstances of this case."

1 / 3The Freedom From Religion Foundation created this nativity exhibit featuring the Founding Fathers for display in 2016 at the Texas Capitol. This year a federal judge ruled that Gov. Greg Abbott had violated the First Amendment by having the scene removed.( Freedom From Religion Foundation) 2 / 3The cheerleaders of Kountze Middle School display Bible verses at the middle school football game held at Kountze High School on Thursday, September 20, 2012.(Randy Edwards / The Enterprise) 3 / 3The Freedom of Religion Foundation, a nonprofit based in Wisconsin, is asking "nonbelievers" to mess with Texas. They posted this caricature of Gov. Greg Abbott, who they have sued multiple times, on social media after winning a court case against the state of Texas.(Freedom From Religion Foundation)

Annie Laurie Gaylor, the foundation's co-founder and co-president, said the fundraising efforts were spurred by the governor's years-long opposition to her group and its supporters.

"I just started to burn a little bit about the whole thing, the way Abbott has characterized us and Texas atheists," Gaylor told The Dallas Morning News. "He has censored a Bill of Rights display. He says atheists aren't welcome in Texas."

"'Do mess with Texas' is kind of our little slogan around the office," she said.

As attorney general and then as governor, Abbott has fought for conservative ideals in and out of the courtroom. Just last week, the governor promised to maintain the state's Republican dominance in political office and joked that he would build a wall between New Mexico and Texas to keep out liberal Californians.

Abbott's office and campaign did not respond to a request for comment on the foundation's fundraising efforts. The foundation is also suing Wayne Mack, a Montgomery County justice of the peace, for opening his court sessions with a Christian prayer.

That case is scheduled to go to trial in the fall. Both Mack and the cheerleaders have been represented by the Plano-based First Liberty Institute.