Four organizations have filed a federal lawsuit that seeks to halt the City of New Orleans’ plans to remove three monuments to Confederate leaders and one monument to an 1874 white supremacist insurrection.

According to a press release, the Louisiana Landmarks Society, the Foundation for Historical Louisiana, the Monumental Task Force and Beauregard Camp No. 130 filed a 12-count, 51-page complaint that seeks to bar the removal of the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, the statue of Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard, the statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and an obelisk honoring the 1874 Battle of Liberty Place. The lawsuit, which was expected by the city and almost certainly planned in advance, was filed just hours after the New Orleans City Council passed an ordinance declaring the four monuments public nuisances yesterday.

WWL-TV reports that the plaintiffs have asked a federal judge to issue a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction and permanent injunction that would stop the removals.

The news outlet also reports that the city administration has acknowledged that the Battle of Liberty Place monument is protected under a prior federal order. The obelisk was moved to its current location at the foot of Iberville Street as part of a consent order that the city entered in 1992. The new lawsuit argues that this consent order prohibits its removal via a city ordinance.

Among other things, the suit alleges that removing the statues would violate a number of federal laws, including the Veterans Memorial Preservation and Recognition Act and laws regarding the National Register of Historic Places. Additionally, the plaintiffs argue that the proximity of three of the monuments to federally funded streetcar lines means that they cannot be moved.

The debate surrounding New Orleans’ Confederate monuments has been rather heated since Mayor Mitch Landrieu called for their removal this past summer. New Orleans native and jazz icon Wynton Marsalis penned an op-ed outlining the case for their removal earlier this week, and thousands signed a petition asking the city to replace the Robert E. Lee statue with a memorial to the late Allen Toussaint in the weeks following his death.