LAS CRUCES, N.M. — The Las Cruces public school district is being sued over a sculpture at a sports complex that includes three crosses.

Jesse Chavez and Paul Weinbaum, founding members of the southern New Mexico chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court alleging the work violates the constitutional ban on government endorsement of religion.

"The reasonable observer would perceive the three crosses to represent a specific religion, and therefore the basic tenets of that religion," the lawsuit filed Sept. 9 states.

The $21,000 steel sculpture is the work of Las Cruces artist Ruth Bird. The 8-foot-wide metal circle enclosing three crosses is titled "Unitas, Fortitudo, Excellentia," Latin for unity, strength and excellence.

The sculpture was funded by New Mexico's One Percent for Art program. It is displayed outside the new Las Cruces Public Schools Sports Activities Complex.

Chavez and Weinbaum raised similar complaints last year about the Las Cruces municipal logo, which consists of three conjoined crosses within a sunburst. Las Cruces is Spanish for "the crosses."

The complaints almost led to the removal of three large replicas of the logo alongside Interstate 25 and U.S. 70 in Las Cruces by the state Department of Transportation. Gov. Bill Richardson intervened to halt the removal.

In the lawsuit against the school district, the men allege the crosses "are arranged in a formation commonly associated with the crosses of Calvary."

School administrators refused to comment because the matter involves pending litigation, school district spokeswoman Jamey Rickman said.