CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — An anti-gay preacher from Kansas wants to erect a monument in a city park celebrating the death of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard five years ago.

The Rev. Fred Phelps has led protests in Casper and Laramie on the anniversary of Shepard’s death since 1998, when Shepard was lured out of a Laramie bar by two men, kidnapped and beaten into a coma.

Shepard, 21, died at a Fort Collins, Colo., hospital five days later. Police have said he was targeted in part because he was gay. His attackers were later convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

In a letter sent to Casper officials, Phelps said he wanted to erect a stone monument in City Park with a bronze plaque bearing Shepard’s face and an inscription reading “Matthew Shepard, Entered Hell October 12, 1998, in Defiance of God’s Warning: ‘Thou shalt not lie with mankind as womankind; it is an abomination.’ Leviticus 18:22.”

Phelps said he wants the monument in Casper because it is Shepard’s hometown, where he learned it is “OK to be gay.”

“(Shepard) was not a hero,” Phelps said. “This is a great monster sin against God. It is not an innocent alternative lifestyle. And all that has come down in that one little evil town called Casper, Wyoming. And we can’t ignore that.”

Phelps has proposed putting the monument in a part of City Park officials are considering selling in order to avoid the removal of a Ten Commandments monument that has drawn fire from another religious group.

The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation has threatened legal action if the city does not remove the Ten Commandments monument.

Earlier this week, the City Council decided to explore selling the park land rather than removing the monument despite opposition from some councilors, who fear it will draw interest from people like Phelps.

“I think (the Ten Commandments monument) should be there, but I am voting to remove it if it has to be for this very reason, for the prevention of people like Phelps,” councilor Renee Burgess said.