New Mexico House Speaker Ben Luján has removed the illegal billboard from his property along U.S. 84/285 south of Española, the speaker confirmed Monday.

Luján, D-Nambé, said the 20-foot-high billboard came down last week after federal highway officials told the state to demolish the double-sided sign by last Friday or risk losing federal highway funds.

"Why is everyone only interested in my billboard?" Luján asked a reporter. He said there are about seven other billboards, also presumably illegal, along the highway in the area north of Pojoaque.

New Mexico Department of Transportation spokesman Mark Slimp, contacted after business hours Monday, said he wasn't aware of the other billboards and without knowing specific information, such as the names of the various property owners, couldn't respond on Monday night.

Billboards on U.S. highways are controlled under the federal Highway Beautification Act. There also are state and county laws. Santa Fe County in recent years has prohibited billboards.

Lawrence Barreras, chief of the Transportation Oriented Property Asset Management Division of the state DOT, notified Luján in January that his billboard was "non-conforming and illegal and was maintained in violation of the outdoor advertising statute and regulations." Outdoor advertising permits for billboards were canceled in approximately 1993, the letter said. Luján said in March he didn't realize he needed a permit for the sign.

Earlier this year, the state DOT told Luján that his billboard could remain until roadwork began on that portion of the highway.

However, the Federal Highway Administration earlier this month told state transportation officials that the billboard must come down by Friday, or highway funds could be jeopardized.

The sign has been up for more than a decade, Luján said in an interview earlier this year.

Luján's lawyer, Frank Bond, was quoted in an Associated Press article this month as saying Luján would seek compensation for the loss of the billboard as part of an ongoing land condemnation case in state District Court.

The condemnation suit involves less than a half-acre of land owned by Luján and his wife that the state DOT wants as part of a $68 million highway reconstruction and safety improvement project between Española and Pojoaque.

The state plans to rebuild existing lanes, add frontage roads and build a new interchange.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com.