A Ramadan display at a Spring Branch ISD elementary school has sparked controversy after a conservative parent group said it violated a policy on political and religious neutrality. 

The Harris County chapter of Moms for Liberty first shared photos of the Ramadan display on Instagram, questioning why the decorations at Bunker Hill Elementary School were approved. The three-slide post showed the school’s lobby decorated with signage that said “Ramadan Mubarak,” (which translates to “blessed Ramadan” and is said to other Muslims during the holy month)  along with crescent moons and stars, which are widely-recognized  Islamic symbols.

Although the display was relatively modest, the group criticized what it described as a policy violation.

“This is in a school district that does NOT allow (per board policy) religious symbols to be displayed, yet somehow these decorations were approved,” the post’s caption read. “Parents are often invited to come to the school to watch their kids participate in square dancing and line dancing.  Imagine walking into the school for ‘Go Texan Day,’ and this is the decor that greets you.”

A district spokesperson confirmed to the Houston Chronicle that a parent complaint was received. Because the display was religious in nature, campus leaders were instructed to remove it. Chron has reached out to Moms 4 Liberty and Spring Branch ISD for comment, but has not heard back yet. 

Meanwhile, on social media,  people have called out the district’s move for apparent double standards. 

“But the 10 commandments must be posted. Clear first amendment violation,” another user said. 

“You have 10 commandments displayed, you had Easter decorations and Hanukkah decorations,” one person commented on Facebook. “We live in a community. Most reasonable people enjoy learning what their classmates celebrate, enjoy the food and customs. Pretending that they don’t exist and making a sterile class environment is French secularism, and not American.”

The scrutiny comes amid heightened islamophobia in Texas—particularly in North Texas. Last year, Governor Greg Abbott designated civil rights organization Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Muslim Brotherhood as “foreign terrorist organizations” —a move CAIR sharply dismissed as baseless. Months before his proclamation, the U.S. Justice Department quietly dropped its investigation into a proposed community development project around one of Texas’ largest mosques outside of Dallas.

And last month, Congressman Brandon Gill of Dallas claimed parts of Texas were being overtaken by Muslim communities. A week after his comments, a man was filmed harassing a group of Muslim students at a Plano park while they were praying. 

At the same time,  some Texas cities have publicly celebrated religious diversity. Houston recently opened its doors to a five-story, 11-acre religious center for Ismaili Muslims (a branch of Shia Islam) after nearly two decades in the making. In fact, the moment was celebrated, which prompted several responses from the Houston Chronicle’s Editorial Board to call out the “bizarre hatred toward Islam [as] a social media conspiracy utterly detached from reality on the ground.”