Protesters at the Ten Commandments monument in the State Judicial Building in Montgomery, Ala., wait to be arrested Wednesday.

In depth:

By Verna Gates

MONTGOMERY, Alabama (Reuters) - A Ten Commandments monument at the centre of a bitter dispute over the constitutional separation of church and state has been removed from public view in Alabama's state judicial building.

Workers wheeled away the two-tonne granite monument on Wednesday to the anguish of several hundred Christian protesters outside, who greeted the removal with wails, shouts and prayers.

People who saw the stone as an unconstitutional expression of religion in a government building welcomed the move.

The state's chief justice, Roy Moore, installed the monument two years ago as a symbol of the Judeo-Christian foundation of U.S. law. A federal court had ordered it moved.

"It is a sad day in our country when the moral foundation of our law and the acknowledgement of God has to be hidden from public view to appease a federal judge," Moore said in a statement after the removal.

Moore was suspended last week for refusing to comply with the federal court order to remove the monument by August 20 and has promised to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Moore said he was profoundly disappointed with authorities who sought the monument's removal and added, "I have not and will never deny my oath, my conscience or the constitution of this state and the nation."

PLACED IN STORAGE

Graham George, judicial building manager, said the monument was placed in a storage area. "I hope the Supreme Court will hear this case and let us know once and for all," he said.

The office of President George W. Bush, who has been forthright in his public professions of Christian faith, backed the removal of the monument as the right thing legally while acknowledging such cases have gone both ways in the past.

"It is important that we respect our laws and our courts," said White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan. "In some instances, the courts have ruled that the posting of the Ten Commandments is OK, in other circumstances they ruled that it's not OK. In either case, there's always opportunity for appeal of court decisions, but we believe that it's important to respect the laws and the courts."

The Alabama case has been the latest in disputes over Ten Commandment displays in the United States. They pit defenders of the Constitution's First Amendment guarantee that the government will not promote any religion against Christians who believe the Old Testament commandments should be displayed in schools or courthouses as a reminder of basic values.

Some of the several hundred protesters outside the Alabama building were distraught. One screamed "Put it back, put it back" as others tried to calm him down.

Brian Chavez-Ochoa, a lawyer for members of the Christian Coalition, said he would file an request seeking to return the block to the courthouse rotunda. He accused officials who had the monument moved of "systematically eradicating God from the public square in favour of a nontheistic religion that makes man a god unto himself."

But Larry Darby, Alabama state director of the American Atheists organisation, said: "It is about time. That Roy Moore has made a mockery of the judicial system. "He has disgraced the bench and the bar and has embarrassed the state of Alabama worldwide. I'm only disappointed that it will not be out of the building and off of taxpayer property."

Alabama's eight associate justices ordered the monument removed to comply with a federal judge's November 2002 ruling that was later affirmed by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

Display of the Ten Commandments in public buildings has frequently been challenged in the United States over the interpretation of the First Amendment, guaranteeing free speech, along with other church-state separation issues such as prayer in public schools.