The removal was carried out in response to an order by a federal judge that the monument's presence violated the constitutional separation of state and church.
More than 100 religious activists protested and prayed outside the building as a final legal attempt to halt the removal failed. The monument remains in the building but is no longer in a prominent position. It was unclear yesterday whether it would be taken away.
The Rev Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said: "This is a tremendous victory for the rule of law and for respect for religious diversity."
Dozens of camera crews and reporters watched the removal crew laboriously but gently remove the 2,376kg (2.3 ton) monument.
A last-minute action by a local Christian radio station to halt the removal, due to be heard at the federal court in Mobile yesterday, was abandoned.
The Alabama chief justice, Roy Moore, had the monument installed, at night and on his own initiative, two years ago and it became a big issue in the state.
Last year a federal judge ordered its removal and last week the US supreme court declined to hear Mr Moore's appeal against the order, indicating that it did not believe it had any merit.
After Mr Moore refused to comply with the order his eight fellow justices voted to remove the monument and Mr Moore was suspended on ethics charges.
Since then he has delivered speeches defending his position, and yesterday he issued a statement declaring the removal "a sad day in our country".
"Perhaps Roy Moore will soon leave the bench and move into the pulpit, which he seems better suited for," Mr Lynn said yesterday.
The Alabama judiciary currently applies a selective interpretation of the commandments, specifically the injunction, Thou shalt not kill. It is seventh in the list of states applying the death penalty, and has executed 28 people since it was reintroduced in 1976.
The executive director of the Death Penalty Information Centre, Richard Deiter, said yesterday that Alabama stood out as a state which allowed the execution of juveniles and did not provide adequate legal representation to those facing execution.
The monument's removal may have political ramifications.
The state attorney general, Bill Pryor, has been condemned by conservative Christian groups for his role in ordering the monument's removal, and rightwing talk shows have made an issue of the controversy.
An irate man initiated the "Put it back!" chorus after the monument was wheeled away from the rotunda.
"Get your hands off our God, God haters!" yelled the wildly gesturing, red-faced man.
One woman sat rocking on the steps of the building, hands clasped and tears streaming down her face. Another waved a poster asking President Bush to intervene.
The pro-monument supporters who have been on a weeklong vigil on the building's front plaza were urged to remain calm and not rush the glass doors. Some yelled, but the crowd was restrained.
Two dozen city police were stationed around the perimeter of the building and others patrolled the surrounding block on motorcycles.
Many monument supporters have protested the monument's removal from the Montgomery building's rotunda by lying down on the steps. Others were kneeling quietly in prayer.
Before the 5,280-pound monument was wheeled away, supporters had promised to keep up the fight to keep it in place.
But those seeking removal of the monument from its public site said they were grateful that it was finally being moved, a week after the deadline set by a federal judge.
"This is a tremendous victory for the rule of law and respect for religious diversity," the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said before the monument was rolled out of the rotunda.
"Perhaps Roy Moore will soon leave the bench and move into the pulpit, which he seems better suited for."
Lynne's organization was among groups suing to remove Moore's monument, which he installed without telling the other eight Supreme Court justices.
Protesters said they were far from ending their battle to keep it on public display. They're also trying to get more people to join them in their cause.
"If it takes 75 years to reclaim this land for righteousness, God find us and our children and our children's children ready," said the Rev. Rob Schenck, president of the national clergy council.
The Ten Commandments
1. I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
3. Remember thou keep the Sabbath Day
4. Honor thy Father and thy Mother.
5. Thou shalt not kill.
6. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
7. Thou shalt not steal.
8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's goods.
Fox News' Amy C. Sims, Jonathan Serrie and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP)--A 2 1/2-ton granite monument of the Ten Commandments that became a lightning rod in a legal storm over church and state was wheeled from the rotunda of the Alabama Supreme Court building Wednesday as protesters knelt, prayed and chanted, ``Put it back!''
Suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who installed the engraved set of tablets two years ago and risked his career to keep it there after a federal judge ordered it removed, said he would take his fight to the U.S. Supreme Court.
``It is a sad day in our country when the moral foundation of our laws and the acknowledgment of God has to be hidden from public view to appease a federal judge,'' he said.
To the dismay of scores of supporters who had held a weeklong vigil outside the front doors, the 5,280-pound monument was jacked up by a work crew and taken away to a back room with a heavy-duty hydraulic hand truck.
Building officials did not immediately say where the monument would be stored or whether the public would ever be allowed to see it.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson of Montgomery had ruled last year that the monument violates the Constitution's ban on government endorsement of a religious doctrine.
``This is a tremendous victory for the rule of law and respect for religious diversity,'' said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. ``Perhaps Roy Moore will soon leave the bench and move into the pulpit, which he seems better suited for.''
As the monument left public view, a federal judge in Mobile dismissed a lawsuit that had been filed this week in a last-ditch effort to block its removal.
The long-running dispute has galvanized evangelical Christians and conservatives in this Bible Belt state and around the country.
Asked about President Bush's view of the controversy, White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said: ``It is important that we respect our laws and our courts. In some instances the courts have ruled that the posting of Ten Commandments is OK. In other circumstances they have ruled that it's not OK. In either case, there is always opportunity for appeal of courts' decisions.''
Outside the Alabama courthouse, demonstrators lay face-down on the pavement, knelt in prayer on the steps, and recited the Pledge of Allegiance and the Lord's Prayer. Four men linked arms and chanted, ``Put it back!''
Hundreds took part in the vigil, and organizers said the protest would not end with the monument's removal.
``They can move it out of view, but they can't move it out of our hearts,'' said Rick Moser, 47, of Woodstock, Ga.
Protest organizer Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, said it is critical for the supporters to remain after the monument's removal to ``stand with Christ and against judicial tyranny.''
Moore was suspended by a judicial ethics panel for defying Thompson's order to move the monument. The federal judge had threatened to impose $5,000 daily fines on the state, and Moore's eight fellow justices on the Supreme Court overruled Moore and ordered the monument taken away.
Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor, a Republican, defended the court-ordered removal of the monument and is overseeing the prosecution of Moore on the ethics charge, which will be heard before the seven-member Court of the Judiciary. It has the power to discipline and remove judges.
Moore contends the federal judge has no authority to tell Alabama's chief justice to remove the monument.
Republican Gov. Bob Riley said in a statement that he hopes the monument's removal is ``brief and temporary,'' with the U.S. Supreme Court ordering it moved back. He said he will file court papers supporting Moore.
In neighboring Mississippi, Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove and Republican gubernatorial candidate Haley Barbour said they want the monument if Alabama does not. Musgrove said he would display it in the Capitol for a week, and hoped other states would do the same. Barbour said he'd like to have it for the governor's mansion.
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