For more than 44 years, a small encampment dedicated to protesting nuclear weapons operated on land next to the White House.

However, it came to an end this past week when President Donald Trump gave the order for it to be taken down. 

Trump: "Take it down now"

According to The Hill, Trump's instruction came on Friday after he was informed of the protest, which was known as the White House Peace Vigil.

"I didn’t know that," the president was quoted as saying in the White House after speaking with a reporter. He went on to tell staffers, "Take it down. Take it down today, right now."

The Hill recalled how the White House Peace vigil was first erected in June of 1981 by ant-nuclear weapons activist William Thomas at Lafayette Park, which sits parallel to the White House's North Lawn.

Thomas remained at the site until his death in 2009, after which it began to be occupied by fellow activists, including Philipos Melaku-Bello and a group of rotating volunteers.

The protest site was long festooned with a variety of signs bearing such slogans as "Ban All Nuclear Weapons or Have a Nice Doomsday" and "Live By the Bomb, Die By the Bomb."

GOP congressman called for vigil's removal

However, the Washington Post noted how the White House Peace Vigil had recently drawn the ire of New Jersey Democratic Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who complained about it in a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

"Let me be clear: nothing in the Constitution guarantees the right to erect permanent structures and occupy public land day after day, year after year, in a manner that creates public safety hazards, degrades the appearance of one of our most iconic parks, and burdens both the District and the National Park Service," Van Drew wrote.

"No group should be above the law, and the continued allowance of this permanent occupation sends the wrong message to law-abiding Americans," he stressed.

"This isn't about stopping protest. It’s about upholding the rule of law, preserving one of America’s most iconic public spaces, and ending a double standard that’s made a mockery of both," the congressman added.

D.C. delegate defended White House Peace Vigil

However, District of Columbia Democratic Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton was a longtime supporter of the White House Peace Vigil, and she pushed back on Van Drew's complaints.

"The Peace Vigil has stood in front of the White House for more than 30 years, with its organizers engaged in principled activism at considerable personal cost," she said in a statement to the Post.

"If Representative Van Drew’s claim that the vigil creates public safety hazards were valid, it would have been removed long ago," Norton went on to insist.