( CNN ) -- A giant cross that has stood on a Southern California mountain for decades must be removed because it violates the constitutional separation of church and state , a judge ordered this week . The order Thursday by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns continues a long legal battle about the 43-foot cross atop Mt . Soledad in San Diego . Burns ordered that the cross would have to be removed within 90 days . But the cross may be able to stay if the case is appealed , the judge ordered . `` Of course we are disappointed in what the ruling is -- that is to take the cross down , '' Bruce Bailey , president of the Mount Soledad Memorial Association told CNN affiliate KGTV . Bailey said his organization plans to appeal , which would mean the cross would stay as the decades-long legal battle continued . Long legal battle . The cross was erected in 1954 in honor of Korean War veterans and has been the subject of near constant judicial back and forth since 1989 , when two Vietnam War veterans filed suit saying it violated the California Constitution 's `` No Preference '' clause . Since the first lawsuit in 1989 , the city of San Diego twice tried selling the property beneath the cross to the Mount Soledad Memorial Association , only to be stopped by the courts . In 2004 , the parties involved reached an agreement that would have moved the cross to a nearby church , but two congressmen intervened and inserted a rider into the 2005 omnibus budget bill that designated the property a national veterans memorial and authorized the federal government to accept the donation of the property . This led to more fights and more court filings . In 2006 , three congressmen pushed through a bill calling for the government to seize the property by eminent domain -- calling it `` a historically significant war memorial . '' The federal government took possession in August of that year . A lawsuit was filed challenging that transfer almost immediately and that has led to Thursday 's ruling .
The judge orders the giant cross must be removed in 90 days . But judge also orders cross can stay if case is appealed . Score: 6