MYSPACE’S 35,000-member-strong Atheist and Agnostic Group was removed last month after hackers earlier broke in and renamed the group’s site “Jesus Is Love”.

After it was sabotaged, according to The Plain Dealer, MySpace took the site down, and despite repeated requests, it has steadfastly refused to restore it.

The group’s founder and moderator, Bryan Pesta, a Cleveland State University assistant professor said:

MySpace has ignored repeated requests to restore the group’s site, including an online petition with more than 500 signatures. These actions send a clear message to the 30 million godless people in America that we are not welcome on MySpace.

A MySpace spokeswoman did not return calls to the newspaper, which sought comment.

Pesta started the group in 2004 as a social networking site “specifically for godless people.” Atheists are more likely to be geographically spread out, and the online group provided a sense of community, he said.

The site grew by about 10,000 people a year to just under 35,000 members by the end of 2007, Pesta said.

But it was never without controversy. Two years ago, Pesta said, MySpace deleted the group after an organised campaign from Christians opposing the site. MySpace restored it and promised it would be protected, Pesta said.

Last Thanksgiving, hackers broke into the group’s site, deleting material and renaming it “Jesus Is Love.” MySpace restored the site three weeks later but then shut it down this year, Pesta said.