ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Colorado, or at least a Coloradan, has fired back at New Mexico in the chile wars.

Remember how the New Mexico Tourism Department recently put up boastful billboards in Colorado? Well, someone took offense to them.

They were meant as a playful jab. A handful of billboards recently put up in Colorado highlight New Mexico as the Chile Capital of the World. Now, photos are surfacing of an alteration to one of those billboards in Colorado Springs.

“The day I found it was when someone went and hung over the billboard and put the zero miles and put the Colorado flag up,” Angel Chaves said. “I thought that was funny, you know, it was like a clap back towards New Mexico for them advertising in Colorado.”

Some Colorado locals feel that’s what New Mexico deserves for having the audacity to trash talk in their state. So, they’re doing some trash talking of their own.

“They feel they have better chile then they shouldn’t worry about the competition,” a Coloradan said. “It’s a good rivalry. It’s healthy, it keeps people on their toes.”

Now news of the vandalism is trickling down to New Mexico, and people here understand it’s all in good fun.

“I don’t think that’s fair but had Colorado done something like that in our state, I think New Mexicans probably would have done the same thing just to retaliate because we know we got the best chile,” an Albuquerque man said.

“While it’s unfortunate to see the vandalism, it demonstrates that people on both sides of the New Mexico-Colorado border are passionate about chile. Here in New Mexico, we celebrate our signature crop for both our cuisine and agricultural heritage every chance we get,” Cody Johnson, New Mexico Tourism Department spokesperson.

The New Mexico Tourism Department had a good sense of humor about the alteration to the billboard. They were just pleased that it was only a removable sheet and no damage was done.