In the , the hacker claimed to have temporarily taken down the public website of the church "for celebrating the death of U.S. troops."

The message, however, made no direct mention if The Jester (@th3j35t3r on ) was also responsible for the unavailability today of several other websites affiliated to the WBC.

Members of the WBC church, based in Topeka, Kan., are known for their strident anti-gay views and for protests at funerals of slain military personnel and others.

Last week, someone purporting to be from the hacking collective known as Anonymous, posted a letter on an Anonymous site, warning WBC members of attacks against their church public websites if they did not stop their protests.

The letter lamented the "inimitable bigotry and intolerant fanaticism" of the protesters and warned of online attacks that the church would not be able to withstand or recover from.