GOLDEN, Colo. -- Anti-abortion activists unfurled a huge sign on a mesa west of Denver equating the Democratic National Convention with abortion.

The sign on Table Mountain in Golden says "Destroys Unborn Children," with the letters D, N and C in capitals and lined up vertically.

Denver-based American Right to Life Action said it placed the sign.

Jefferson County sheriff's spokeswoman Andrea Burns said about 50 people hiked up the mesa Tuesday to place the sign. She said sheriff's deputies who went to the scene found the activists at the foot of the mesa, suffering from the heat and the hike.

She said deputies allowed the protesters to access food and water, and they agreed to remove the sign.

It was made of over 2,000 sheets sewn together.

The sign was taken down shortly after it was completed.

Steve Curtis, president of American Right to Life Action, said they planned this to get media attention, and it has worked.

"We know it's being heard all over the country," said Curtis. "We've already heard from people as far away as the East Coast. It's all over the blogosphere. We know the message is getting out."

But the outrage it has provoked is just as visible.

A handful of angry residents offered to help officers dismantle the sign, which many found offensive.

"I'm angry," said Ruth Rinehart, a Golden resident who often hikes on the mountain. "I've been watching them rolling those sheets down the mountain and rocks have been tumbling down. It is a sensitive property, and it's public property, and it's our space."