WASHINGTON (AP) — Crews began removing President Donald Trump's name from the facade of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts early Saturday after a court-ordered deadline took effect. The work followed a federal judge's ruling that the Kennedy Center's board lacked the legal authority to rename the institution and that any such change would require an act of Congress. Workers erected scaffolding and began dismantling the signage shortly after midnight after an appeals court declined to delay enforcement of the order.

The dispute stems from a decision by the Trump-appointed Kennedy Center board to add the president's name to the venue after Trump became chairman of the organization. The move prompted legal challenges from critics who argued that federal law specifically designates the facility as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper agreed, ruling that the board could not alter the institution's official name without congressional approval.