The hope that Gov. Bobby Jindal might invoke a state “Heritage Act” to keep the four controversial public monuments in New Orleans in place may be a lost cause. Though Jindal’s administration pledged Thursday to research the law and its possible applicability to the statue controversy, it turns out Louisiana doesn’t have such a law.

The Jindal administration’s vow came after New Orleans’ Historic District Landmarks Commission cleared the way for the City Council to take down prominent statues of Robert E. Lee, P.G.T. Beauregard and Jefferson Davis and a less public monument commemorating an attack launched by the White League against the Reconstruction-era government in the city.

The ongoing debate over those monuments has sparked debate in the city — and around the state — with many suggesting there was a state law known as the “Heritage Act” that the governor could use to step in. When asked Thursday night whether the governor planned to intervene, spokesman Doug Cain replied that “Governor Jindal opposes the tearing down of these historical statues and he has instructed his staff to look into the Heritage Act to determine the legal authority he has as Governor to stop it.”