LIBERTY, Ind. A 28-foot-tall rooster sign is being allowed to stay up outside a restaurant in a small eastern Indiana town despite complaints that it violated zoning rules.

The Union County Board of Zoning Appeals voted Monday to approve an exception from building rules so that the Liberty Bell restaurant can keep its colorful wood-and-metal sign, WLWT-TV in Cincinnati reported (http://bit.ly/PKKe7Z ).

The county planning director said several people complained that the 16-foot-wide sign was closer to the street than allowed. But residents of the 2,000-person community near the state border with Ohio who showed up to the board meeting supported allowing it to remain.

The restaurants owner, Andy Pitcher, said customers often pose for photos under the sign, which he put up this spring to help draw attention during a street construction project. The debate over whether it should be allowed to remain has helped business, he said.

Weve sold thousands of pieces of chicken over the weekend up and above what we normally do, Pitcher said.

Mark Mayer, a carpenter who helped build the sign, said the rooster is securely moored and able to withstand thunderstorms.

Hes gone through one with 60 to 80 mile an hour winds so far, so hes not going anywhere, Mayer said.

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Liberty Bell restaurant to keep 28-foot-tall rooster