More than half the major league stadiums have removed or have agreed to remove tobacco billboards.

Robert Venturi, the postmodern architect, said that while he was sympathetic to opponents of smoking, tobacco billboards could also be objects of beauty.

Mr. Bryant said that of his company's 50 tobacco billboards he has found new advertisers for 35 but hopes to pick up others soon.

Anti-smoking groups are not crying over the tobacco billboard's demise.

And soon some municipalities, like Baltimore, Chicago and Seattle, moved to ban tobacco billboards.

The country had to look at all those tobacco billboards for years with the letters 3M beneath them.

But his anti-tobacco feelings were deepened by the tobacco billboards he saw every day along Route 1 on his way to and from work.

Eventually he stopped his car, photographed tobacco billboards and gave slide presentations about his observations.

And cigarette makers have also agreed to end the use of tobacco billboards and other marketing practices.

In 1983, graffiti artists caused an unprecedented £1 million worth of damage to tobacco billboards in and around Sydney, Australia.