Japanese-American residents in California sued to remove a statue commemorating World War II “comfort women.”

The statue was placed in a park in Glendale, a suburb of Los Angeles, in July by a Korean-American group. It commemorates the women from Japanese-occupied territories who were allegedly forced to act as prostitutes for the Japanese military during the war. The historical issue is still a major source of tension between Japan and its neighbors.

On February 20, a Japanese-American group in Glendale filed a lawsuit against the city in the district court to revoke its permission for the statue. They insist that the military did not hold the “comfort women” against their will.

They argue that the issue of comfort women is a matter of foreign policy, which is under the jurisdiction of the federal government. The local officials who allowed the statue’s construction therefore violated the constitution, they say.

The group hopes that the case will stop the trend toward “maligning” Japan.