An Alabama children's ministry removed a billboard Tuesday that featured a quote from Adolf Hitler next to pictures of five children.
The controversial billboard included Hitler's quote, "He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future," and Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it."
Life-Savers Ministries paid Lamar Advertising to put up the sign on Friday next to Auburn's Village Mall. Photos of the billboard were posted to social media over the weekend, and many expressed confusion and disapproval of the messages.
"A billboard in Auburn, AL. Quoting #Hitler and the #Bible. #inappropriate," one Twitter user wrote.
"@LamarOOH what's with the Hitler billboard on Opelika Road in Auburn?" another man asked the advertising agency.
"Does anyone else see a problem here? Hitler quoted with scripture on a billboard? Is it just me? Seems disturbing," another woman tweeted, along with posting a photo of the sign.
Life-Savers founder James Anderegg said the message of the billboard was miscommunicated.
"We are pulling the billboard and certainly never intended to cause confusion," he told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.
"[Former U.S. president] Herbert Hoover would have been a far better one to quote when he said, 'Children are our most valuable resource.'
"We are a children's organization and had honorable intentions and nothing less."
According to their website, Life-Savers is a 17-year-old non-profit that offers weekend Bible lessons, a leadership academy, school supplies, and more to at-risk youth in the Opelika area.
Lamar Advertising spokesman Hal Kilshaw initially would not confirm who purchased the billboard, and Life-Savers' name does not appear on the sign.
"It was put up at client request and will be taken down at client request," Kilshaw said Tuesday, according to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.
