Montgomery, Ala. ? Protesters hoping to keep a Ten Commandments monument in the state judicial building marched Tuesday on Atty. Gen. Bill Pryor’s office, demanding he resign for abiding by a federal court order for the marker’s removal.

About 150 monument supporters marched from the judicial building to the nearby statehouse to meet with Pryor, but were met by 10 state police blocking the door. Seven representatives were allowed inside to meet with Pryor’s chief deputy for about 20 minutes.

The rest of the group remained outside, chanting, “Resign now! Resign now!”

The 5,300-pound monument remained in the rotunda of the judicial building, where Chief Justice Roy Moore installed it two years ago. A federal judge has held it violates the constitution’s ban on government promotion of religious doctrine and gave Moore an Aug. 20 deadline to remove it.

When Moore refused, associate justices, supported by Pryor, ordered it out. On Friday, Moore was suspended on charges of violating canons of judicial ethics for refusing to obey the court order, and Pryor will oversee his impending prosecution on the ethics complaint.

Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, accused Pryor of political grandstanding to aid his nomination to a federal appeals court. It has been stalled by Senate Democrats who attacked the Republican Pryor for stands against abortion and in favor of states’ rights.

Pryor has said it is his duty to uphold a federal court order to remove the marker.

Protesters hoped to keep the monument in place at least until today, when a hearing is set for the last-ditch lawsuit they filed Monday in federal court, which says forced removal would violate the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion.

Pryor’s office filed a motion Tuesday afternoon to dismiss the lawsuit, saying the Mobile court lacks jurisdiction and the complaint lacks merit.

Craig Fenton, of St. Louis, carries a flag past the Alabama Capitol in Montgomery. The demonstrators marched to the office of Alabama Atty. Gen. Bill Pryor to discuss his position on the removal of the Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama Judicial Building.