WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court on Monday will take up a new religious rights case when it considers whether a town in Arizona discriminated against a local church by forcing it to remove signs notifying the public of its worship services.

The nine justices are set to hear a one-hour argument in an appeal filed by the Good News Community Church, which objected to its treatment by town officials in Gilbert, Arizona. The church says its free speech rights, protected by the US Constitution’s First Amendment, were violated.

The conservative-leaning court’s last decision on a religious-themed issue came last June. The justices ruled 5-4 that owners of private companies can object on religious grounds to a provision of President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law that requires employers to provide insurance covering birth control for women.

The Arizona case is not as contentious, with the town receiving little support and the Obama administration backing the church.

The church’s leader, Pastor Clyde Reed, says the town’s 2008 sign ordinance treated religious messages differently than other types of signs. The ordinance has different categories, based on content, that determine the size of the sign, where it can be placed, and how long it can be displayed.

The church’s signs were deemed to be event signs, which meant they received “far worse treatment” than other types, including those displaying political and ideological messages, its lawyers said.

The town’s lawyers asked the court not to hear the case, in part because a new, less restrictive ordinance was enacted in 2011.

The church is represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian group.