An anti-religious banner at a city park in Streator, Illinois was stolen on Saturday, and the atheist group that placed it there claims that the theft was a Class 4 felony under Illinois’ hate crime laws.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s “Nobody died for our sins. Jesus Christ is a myth” banner was placed in the park to protest the Christian signs and crosses that have been erected their ahead of Easter for the past five years. The eight-foot by three-foot banner was placed in the park on Thursday evening, but less than two days later it was gone.

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“It is so dismaying to see mob rule prevail,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. “This vandalism amounts to censorship and suppression of minority viewpoints.”

City officials have said they are treating the park as a public forum, and therefore any religious display is allowed.

“This crime against our banner shows the harm when a local government purports to create a ‘public forum’ for religion on government property,” Gaylor added “The only viewpoint that is going to be heard in Streater is a Christian viewpoint. There are tax-exempt Christian churches throughout Streater where it is appropriate to place Christian crosses and displays. A public park is not one of them.”

FFRF is offering a $1,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators.

[Image via the Freedom from Religious Foundation]