An Army recruiting station has been ordered by higher-ups to shelve a sidewalk sandwich board with the wording "On a mission for both God and country."

The order went out Friday to a recruiting station in Phoenix that had been displaying the outdoor sign since at least October. The sign board also shows an image of a Special Forces patch and Ranger, Airborne and Special Forces tabs.

An inquiry from Army Times to the U.S. Army Recruiting Command prompted the sandwich board's immediate removal.

The command's spokesman told the paper the sign's text was changed by "local recruiting personnel" but without clearance from command headquarters.

"Had the process been followed, the copy shown would not have been approved," spokesman Brian Lepley said.

On Thursday, the head of the atheist group Military Religious Freedom Foundation called the sign the "Poster of Shame."

In an online post, the group's Mikey Weinstein called the display a "stunning, unconstitutional disgrace," Army Times reported.

"The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is delighted the Constitution has been adhered to by the U.S. Army Recruiting Command," Weinstein said after the sign's removal.

It appears that prior to being changed the sandwich board read: "We don't call for reinforcements. We make them."