What's that thing on the cover of Automatic For The People

R.E.M.'s album Automatic For The People has a weird spiky thing on the cover.

What is it?

IIRC, it’s some sort of sign at a restaurant in the Atlanta area.

I seem to recall it being a light fixture, but I could be wrong. The title “Automatic For The People” is the slogan of Weaver D’s Fine Foods, a soul food restaurant in Athens (where the R.E.M. guys live, except Peter Buck, who I believe lives in Seattle).