A lawsuit is challenging a city plan to remove prominent Confederate monuments by alleging that the city does not own the land under three of the monuments and that they are protected from removal by state and federal laws.

The suit, filed shortly after the City Council voted Thursday to remove four monuments, asked Judge Carl Barbier of Federal District Court in New Orleans to halt removal plans. The suit was filed by three preservation organizations and a New Orleans chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

The decision by New Orleans is one of the most sweeping gestures yet by an American city to sever ties with its Confederate past. New Orleans, like other places, was spurred into action against Confederate symbols after a shooting at an African-American church in Charleston, S. C., in June left nine parishioners dead.