A piece of the World Trade Center that gave 9/11 evacuees an escape route was moved today to make way for construction work. The so-called “Survivor’s Staircase” was transported a few hundred feet away to a temporary storage location on the edge of the site. An American flag was placed on it before it was hoisted by a crane and placed onto a flatbed truck.

Its 37 stairs once connected the outdoor plaza outside the twin towers to the street below, and is the last remaining above-ground piece of the WTC.

Initial plans to destroy the staircase drew criticism, but state officials eventually agreed to separate the stairs from their concrete base. Current plans call for the staircase to be brought back to the site this summer as part of a memorial.

(Source: WNBC/ NY1)