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Sign may offend, but it is legal

Jacksonville officials can't force the coffee shop to remove its placard, a city attorney says.

JACKSONVILLE - City officials have no grounds to remove a coffee shop's sign because it might offend some people, a city attorney said.

The sign at Bad A-- Coffee Co. features a picture of a donkey. It's led to a few complaints to the City Council, but a city attorney says there's nothing officials can do.

"While the Bad A-- Coffee Co. sign may be offensive or even immoral to some, a court would not find it to be obscene," Deputy General Counsel Tracey Arpen wrote last week.

Shop owner Richard Cook said the franchise name refers to the donkeys that hauled Kona coffee beans up and down the mountains of Hawaii.

"We don't mean to offend anyone," Cook said.

Bad Ass Coffee began in Hawaii and now is based in Utah. It has 40 locations around the country.