Although not typically known for their community service work, a branch of the Ku Klux Klan recently applied to “adopt” a stretch of Georgia highway and help to maintain the area, keeping it free from litter and debris.

They were denied.

Citing public safety concerns, officials in Georgia’s Union County rejected the white supremacist group’s application, and the county now can expect the group whose name is synonymous with racial hatred will fight for its right to have its name posted on the highway for all to see. Reuters reports:

"The impact of erecting a road sign naming an organization which has a long rooted history of civil disturbance would cause a significant public concern," the Georgia Department of Transportation wrote the Klan chapter. "Impacts include safety of the travelling public, potential social unrest, driver distraction or interference with the flow of traffic."

Harley Hanson, whose formal title is the Exalted Cyclops of the Union County Klan, had earlier said his group would consider legal action if the application were denied.

"We're not going to be deterred," Hanson told Reuters on Monday.

State Representative Tyrone Brooks said Georgia should fight the Klan's application in the courts and if it loses, "I think you might want to end the program."

Read the full story here. 

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(Photo: AP Photo/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Curtis Compton)