The little town of Gallitzin, PA is harassing Lorie Polansky for her “Atheist Station“.

She bought a former barber shop, and turned it into an atheist center called “Atheist Station.” After locals had shot out her windows, thrown eggs and human waste at the front of the building, and jammed her front door, she built a small fence around the property. Local officials say the vandalism is “unfortunate”, but have been legally harrassing her (they’ve issued a citation and are threatening further legal action), claiming that it’s an illegal fence that protrudes on what they say is municipal property. Anyway, they say the atheist center “screams for attention” (because it’s “highly visible from the borough’s main tourist attraction, a railroad museum”). But when pressed, the Borough Council President says “Yes, the borough issued her a citation. But we dug deeper, and it may be between the bank (her neighbor) and her… [but] It’s just a 3-foot fence, and even I could jump over it. I wouldn’t think it offers any protection.”

Even the title of the article from the local paper — not an editorial, but a “news” piece — kind of summarizes the attitude: Atheist center’s fence is blasphemy in town