Festivus Pole to go up in Florida Capitol Rotunda [VIDEO]

A nearly 6-foot-tall "Festivus" pole made from empty beer cans will be put up in the Florida Capitol this week as a not-so-subtle protest to the recent placement of a Christmas nativity scene. 

The mock monument was erected on Wednesday in the same first-floor rotunda as a nativity scene depicting the birth of Jesus Christ put up last week by the Florida Prayer Network.

"I still chuckle, I literally can't believe there will be a pile of Pabst Blue Ribbon cans in the state rotunda," said Chaz Stevens, a Deerfield Beach resident who applied to the state Department of Management Services to put the Festivus pole on display.

Stevens, who operates a blog that focuses on South Florida politics, said the intent of the Festivus pole is to make a political statement on the need for the separation of church and state. He compared the Festivus pole with the nativity scene as "my ridiculous statement versus what I consider, as an atheist, as their ridiculous statement."

So has Florida state government gone completely off course in allowing this to be put up or, has it become the new normal?