NEW ORLEANS - Two federal agencies say they won't try to block the city of New Orleans' attempt to remove a monument to an 1874 revolt against Louisiana's federally-backed post-Civil War government.

In court papers filed Friday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation say they have "no further legal or programmatic interest" in preserving the monument.

In December, the New Orleans City Council voted to remove the monument commemorating the Battle of Liberty Place, as well as statues of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Confederate Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard.

In 1992, the agencies required New Orleans to re-erect the Liberty Monument after removing it during street paving. The city placed it in an obscure spot near a parking garage.