NEW YORK -- Workers have begun moving a staircase that served as an escape route for countless survivors of the attack on the World Trade Center.

The stairway survived Sept. 11 and remains the only above-ground remnant of the trade center complex. Its 37 stairs once connected the outdoor plaza outside the twin towers to the street below.

An American flag was placed on the staircase Sunday before it was hoisted onto a flatbed truck by a crane.

After years of debate over whether and how to preserve the structure, it's moving about 200 feet west on the site, to be stored until it can be installed at the Sept. 11 memorial.

Preservationists and survivors of the 2001 terrorist attack began campaigning years ago to leave the staircase where it was. But it sat in the middle of the footprint of one of five skyscrapers being built to replace the destroyed towers.