Cardboard Tebow placed next to baby Jesus ordered removed from Nativity scene

Runnerup in the Stupidest Christmas Controversy for 2011 (this is clearly the winner) is this story: A county administrator in Bartow, CO., was compelled to removed a cardboard Tim Tebow figure from a Nativity scene on the county courthouse lawn, due to complaints.

The stylized, rectangular replica of Tebow mysteriously appeared Thursday in Millenium Park, a grassy area adjacent to the Neil Combee Administration Building. The area is designated for approved public displays during the holiday season.

Though Tebow has acquired the nickname “Mile High Messiah” while leading the Broncos to six consecutive victories, the proximity of the cartoonish statue to a plastic version of the baby Jesus apparently offended at least a few local residents.

Nelson said the county received a handful of phone calls Thursday and Friday from citizens unhappy about the Tebow icon. She confiscated the two-foot-tall Tebow effigy, and as of Friday afternoon it rested in her office.

The Nativity scene remained in place, along with a Jewish menorah and displays of Santa Claus and a snowman.

This isn’t the first time this particular courthouse has endured Christmas controversy. After a church group erected an unsanctioned Nativity scene on the lawn in 2004, someone else put up a Festivus display, honoring the fictional celebration invented by Frank Costanza on Seinfeld.