Billboard stirs controversy in St. Augustine

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A billboard along A1A in St. Augustine Beach has thousands upset. The billboard reads, "Islam Bloody Islam. Doomed by it's Doctrine." Those we talked to say this is hateful and mean.

"I think there's enough animosity and confrontation going on in the world today," said one woman. "This is just adding fuel to the fire."

"Whoever did this sign needs to take it down, because I have relatives who are all serving in the military, and look at it! It's nothing but hate," said Joey Wages, who rides his bike by the sign every day. "America is not supposed to be this way. We are a country that's supposed to be at peace."

"We should be outraged that a billboard with this message could in any way represent our community as a whole," wrote Becky Williams in an online petition to remove have the billboard removed. "It is of the utmost importance that we stand against messages and movements that isolate, judge and threaten an entire sect of people who share our same hometown."

Thousands have signed the petition, but will it do any good? FOX 35 called the St. Johns County Administrator's Office on Monday. We were told they have received phone calls regarding the billboard, but they say right now, it appears to be a freedom of speech issue that they can not touch.

St. Johns Outdoor Advertising owns the billboard. No one was around when a FOX 35 crew stopped by their offices.