CHARLOTTE, N.C.-- A controversial billboard along the Billy Graham Parkway has been defaced.
The billboard sponsored by the North Carolina Secular Association omits "under God" from the pledge of allegiance.
"We knew it would draw some attention but we didn't know that it would be to this extent," said spokesperson William Warren of the group North Carolina Secular Association
Sunday night our cameras found someone had painted the words "under god" on the billboard, with an arrow pointing out where the words fall in the pledge.
"We didn't know that we would get someone to actually go out and feel the need to spray paint it," Warren said this afternoon in regard to the sign.
Investigators think the words "Under God" were added late Friday night or early Saturday morning.
Warren said the sign was okay when he and his wife drove down Billy Graham Parkway on Friday night.
Several billboards have been put up by the North Carolina Secular Association as a July Fourth project.
The group intentionally left out the words "Under God," which were added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954.
The group wanted to show that nonreligious people are patriotic.
Charlotte spokesman William Warren says the group has filed a police report and says the billboard will be replaced by July 4.
He did not want to say how much it would cost to replace the entire sign.
