​​BUFFALO, N.Y. — ​Demolition of the Great Northern grain elevator has begun, but preservationists are refusing to back down.

Crews started to demolish the site on Ganson Street along the Buffalo River early Friday morning.

The process could take up to eight months, according to City of Buffalo officials.

This comes after the landmark was heavily damaged in a storm late last year.

The Campaign for Greater Buffalo has filed a notice of appeal, pushing to halt demolition.

The group hopes a Supreme Court justice will grant a temporary restraining order. However, no decision has been reached yet regarding that appeal.

"Despite the cultural vandalism that is going on right now, this can be stopped and the Great Northern can be stabilized, restored and part of our future because 125 years ago today, this building was nearing completion and it is built strongly enough — engineered strongly enough — to last another 125 years," said Campaign for Greater Buffalo Director Tim Tielman.

A spokesperson for Archer-Daniels-Midland, the company that owns the Great Northern grain elevator, released a statement to Spectrum News 1, saying:

"The Great Northern Elevator constitutes a safety hazard and is beyond repair, a reality that has been clear to us, the City of Buffalo, and a court in its rulings upholding the city’s demolition permit.  As a result of these rulings, the City’s Emergency Demolition Order is in full effect, and we are continuing to move forward with safely dismantling the facility."