NEW ORLEANS (WWLTV) – A ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals states that four Confederate-era monuments must remain in place until a line of appeals has been exhausted.

The court issued an injunction preventing Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s administration from moving forward with the monument removal until the appeal is heard.

The ruling is a victory – even if temporary – for opponents of the city of New Orleans recent city council vote to declare the monuments a nuisance and have them taken down and moved into storage before eventual placement in an undetermined spot as historical artifacts.

The issue has provided acrimony since the council voted 6-1 in favor of an ordinance that would lead to the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue at Lee Circle, the P.G.T. Beauregard monument in front of City Park’s entrance, the Jefferson Davis memorial on Jefferson Davis Parkway and the monument to the Battle of Liberty Place.

The city has had trouble getting a contractor to remove the monuments as some of the applicants have complained about threats made to their businesses. In addition, the state legislature may take up a bill that would prevent the removal of historic monuments.