OKLAHOMA CITY—The visual arts commission of the conservative Oklahoma City suburb Edmond has approved $3,9000 of municipal funds to pay for a statue of Jesus, reports the Associated Press. The 26-inch-tall bronze statue, titled Come Unto Me, is to be placed in front of a downtown store called Sacred Heart Catholic Gifts.

Last year the arts commission decided against funding a $17,500 statue of Moses at Edmond's First Christian Church after public outcry. Ten years ago the city had to pay $200,000 in legal fees when it lost a court battle to keep a cross on its city seal.

"This is the third major unconstitutional effort they've engaged in recent years," said Barry Lynn, executive director of the Washington D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "It's a little surprising, because normally people pause to take a breath before they violate the Constitution again."

June Cartwright, the chair of the commission that funded the statue, said it was a work of art that could be interpreted in many ways and not a religious endorsement, but the artist, Rosalind Cook, describing the work on her Web site, writes, "every major line leads to the face of Christ who is the focal point and apex of the sculpture."