A roadside electronic billboard in Idaho has shocked the conservative state by comparing President Barack Obama to accused Colorado mass killer James Holmes.

The sign erected by the Ralph Smeed Foundation, a libertarian group, on Franklin Road in Caldwell shows pictures of the two men side by side. For Holmes, the caption reads: "Kills 12 in a movie theater with assault rifle, everyone freaks out." And for Obama, "killed thousands with foreign policy, wins Nobel Prize."

Maurice Clements, spokesman for the Ralph Smeed Foundation, said, "we are not comparing Obama to a lunatic," but "we're all outraged over that killing in Aurora, Colorado, but we're not outraged over the boys killed in Afghanistan."

He said Obama had broken his promise to bring the troops home and thousands more Americans have died as a result.

The Idaho Statesman of Boise reported that the billboard has sparked an outrage in the community. One of their readers commented, that it was "way, way out of line" and "offensive. .. I don't care if you're a Republican or a Democrat and it was just beyond bad taste."

KBOI TV was the first to report the story. One viewer commenting on the station's Facebook page said the sign disrespected the victims of the Aurora the shooting. Another called the billboard "way over the line, and I am not an Obama supporter."