From its mountaintop perch overlooking Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro is the 100-foot-high Jesus statue “Christ the Redeemer.” Boulder has a similarly worshiped religious icon perched above its city. Nestled in front of the majestic Flatirons is the pink cement slab building of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, NCAR.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's office in Boulder after the Trump administration laid off hundreds of workers from the agency.

By Brad Brooks BOULDER, Colorado (Reuters) -Over 1,000 protesters gathered outside a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration building in Boulder, Colorado, on Monday, decrying Trump administration layoffs of what two current employees said were upward of 10% of scientists there.

It defies anything that I have in my political experience to understand how stupid this is,” former Rep. David Skaggs told The Denver Post.

The gathering, sparked by mass layoffs at the agency, was also used to protest other Trump administration moves.

When combined with Trump's federal hiring freeze, recently terminated NOAA staff said the cuts put their organization on a trajectory to break.

Colorado meteorologists in the private sector are skeptical of Republicans' ambitions to privatize parts of NOAA.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Boulder’s U.S. Department of Commerce building on Monday to oppose layoffs of federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employees.

The flag was removed by the city to maintain the natural area, staying consistent with its practice of removing abandoned and unauthorized items and displays from open space lands.

NOAA, situated under the Commerce Department, is instrumental in climate research and houses the National Weather Service, which provides detailed forecasts and weather modeling. In Colorado, NOAA maintains laboratories in Boulder, while the National Weather service has forecasting offices covering Boulder, Grand Junction and Pueblo.

Hundreds of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Weather Service employees were laid off on Thursday, raising questions about the extent of the impact on NOAA and NWS

Two former members of Congress and the head of the Boulder Chamber joined a crowd of protesters on a sunny, warm Monday outside the offices of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in south Boulder to rail against the layoffs and firings of federal workers by the Trump administration.