City: Westboro graffiti won’t be removed

? Topeka has decided not to seek the removal of graffiti from an anti-gay church.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that the graffiti was spray painted on the garage and exterior walls at Westboro Baptist Church.

Church spokeswoman Shirley Phelps-Roper says the church decided to leave it as a symbolic reflection on the people of Topeka and the nation. She noted the church has been telling the nation that it’s “a rebellious, good-for-nothing group.”

The graffiti includes phallic images and references to God.

City spokesman David Bevens says the graffiti is public nuisance under a city ordinance and should be removed. But Bevens says it will be allowed to stay because church members were exercising their First Amendment right to freedom of speech.