A small Baptist church in Hood River, Oregon, has put up signs to emphasise that "Allah is not our God" and that Islamic prophet "Muhammad is not greater than Jesus."

The signs also point out that the Quran is "just an ordinary book" while the Bible "is God's Word."

The messages, put up on a marquee outside the Belmont Drive Missionary Baptist Church, say: "Wake up Christians. Allah is not our God. Muhammad not greater than Jesus."

On the other side of the board, the written message is: "Only the Bible is God's Word. Koran is just another book."

The messages came from Pastor Michael Harrington, 74, head of the church, who is defending the move, saying it's biblical.

However, several people, including the mayor, are protesting the signs.

Eric Cohn was biking when he saw the messages on the board.

"I literally had to stop and back up and make sure I saw what I saw, and I was profoundly offended and upset by it," Cohn said, according to KATU.

Hood River Mayor Paul Blackburn said he was "really annoyed and sad."

"I am annoyed that in this political season there's a solid case of ugly going on. I think it norms up this kind of behavior like 'oh it's okay to be a bigot now,'" he said.

Cohn wrote a letter to a local newspaper out of concern.

"This one guy wrote in here that I'm a terrorist almost. You ought to see what he put in here!" Pastor Harrington said.

He is defending the messages. "I'm not politically correct. I've never been politically correct, but I think I'm biblically correct, and that's what matters to me," he said.

The pastor said he does not hate Muslims, but he's just trying to educate people.

"It isn't against any particular denomination. It's just the fact that I have taught and will continue to teach that I have one God, one way of salvation and one Bible that's holy," he said.

He told The Oregonian that "people are misled and confused about the true God. I was letting them know the difference between Allah and God."