On Sunday, passersby may have noticed an ill-conceived joke on the A-board sitting outside the Ballard Station Public House, a bar which just opened up back in August.

"We have more specials than a retarded playground."

At least three Yelp.com reviewers made mention of the sign -- giving the restaurant a low one-star rating -- two of which said they went inside and asked an employee about the sign.

"We went inside and asked that the message get changed and the bartender just replied by saying we didn't know how to see the humor in life. Not the right response, buddy. You just lost me and everyone I know as customers," wrote user P.K.

"I spoke with the person responsible for this sign, and he told me that he wrote it because he likes to find humor in life," wrote user John H.

At first, management appeared to reject that an employee was the cause of the sign. In initial Facebook posts, Ballard Station management claimed that it was a regular who had tagged the sign and expressed frustration that an incident would ever occur. the Facebook posts have since been deleted.

In a new Facebook post, posted today at 12:45 p.m., Ballard Station management said they investigated the matter, found out an employee was involved and fired the person responsible.

"We have taken the time to thoroughly investigate the incident that happened Sunday. We are very saddened to say that it has been determined that an employee did write on the sign. We took action immediately and suspended the employee while the investigation occurred. When it was determined he was responsible for the sign he was fired. We apologize to the community of Ballard and everyone who was effected. This sign does not represent the beliefs or culture of the Ballard Station Public House. Thank you for your patience while we took the time to investigate."

We'll update with information if we receive anymore.

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