MEMPHIS (AP) — The Sons of Confederate Veterans says it has filed a notice of appeal of a judge's ruling that the removal of three statues of Confederate leaders in Memphis, Tennessee, was legal.

SCV spokesman Lee Millar said Thursday that the notice has been filed in Davidson County Chancery Court in Nashville. The group has challenged the removal of statues of Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Capt. J. Harvey Mathes from two city parks on Dec. 20.

Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle ruled May 16 that the monuments' removal didn't violate the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act, which limits the removal or changing of historical memorials on public property. Memphis leaders used a legal loophole by selling the parks for $1,000 to a private nonprofit, which then removed the monuments.