Religious statue removed from park

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) -  

It's a Tibetan stupa, a shrine containing Buddhist relics, but it's on national park land.

National groups questioned it's legality over the separation of church and state.
 

Buddhists feared it would be torn down, but the National Park Service has now decided it belongs in the hands of the Buddhists.

The shrine was built in 1989 by the former owner of the land where Albuquerque's Petroglyph National Monument now stands. The land was sold one year later to the Federal Government.

Tourists travel to the site, not for the stupa, but to see the 700-year-old Native American rock carvings.

The National Park Service bought the property and everything on it. Recently, it appeared the Park Service was going to remove the stupa and that had Buddhists up in arms.

Then national groups like Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility jumped in and questioned the legality of the stupa on federal land.

Washington D.C. representatives told the Park Service to find it a new home; somewhere away from the park, because the land shouldn't have affiliation with any religion.

"The Buddhists are actually paying for it to be moved to the other side of town," said Diane Souder of the National Park Service.

The Park Service says a group of private donors are taking the shrine to their property in Tijeras Canyon.

But federal money is also being used to dig up the stupa and treat it with extreme care.

"We did environmental clearance, so none of the cultural or natural resources of this immediate vicinity are being disturbed," said Souder.

It's not clear how much federal money will be used. Souder added that the shrine never cost anything to maintain on their part.

The stupa is expected to be removed by Tuesday.