A group of residents and the Sons of Confederate Veterans opposed removing the 1895 stone obelisk and won a temporary restraining order a few days after Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced it would be removed on April 29.
Jefferson Circuit Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman on Wednesday presided over several hours of testimony from the monument's supporters, who argued that the city does not own it and that it could be damaged or crumble if it is removed.
But McDonald-Burkman concluded that the only piece of evidence pointing to ownership was a 1954 document in which the city granted a right-of-way to the state for maintenance of adjacent roadways.