The stalled Thirty Meter Telescope project removed most of its construction vehicles and equipment from its work site near the summit of Mauna Kea on Wednesday, bringing cheers from project foes.

TMT officials said the decision to bring the grading equipment off the mountain does not signal one way or the other the fate of the $1.4 billion telescope.

“We respect the Hawaii Supreme Court decision and, as good neighbors and stewards of the mountain, TMT has begun relocating construction vehicles and equipment from Mauna Kea,” Henry Yang, chairman of the TMT International Observatory Board of Governors, said in a statement.

“Some maintenance work was needed before transporting the vehicles down the mountain, given that they have been idle since April. We thank everyone as we assess our next steps forward,” Yang said.

The telescope project might face years of delay after the state Supreme Court on Dec. 2 ruled that the state Board of Land and Natural Resources failed to follow the state Constitution when it formally approved the project’s conservation district use permit before holding a contested case hearing.

A contested case is intended for the board to weigh additional evidence to fully evaluate a project before final approval, the court noted as it revoked the permit and sent it back to the board for a new contested case hearing.

A gathering of a couple dozen project foes chanted and sang songs Wednesday morning as the vehicles were being hauled down the mountain.

“I’m excited,” said Ku‘uipo Freitas, one of 31 people arrested April 2 while trying to block TMT construction vehicles.

Freitas said Wednesday’s removal is special to her because she was there when the vehicles were brought up the 13,796-foot mountain in late March.

She said the fact that the vehicles have come back down without doing what they were intended to do is significant, “a precedent for oppressed cultures and the hope that one can seek justice.”

“I’m just glad justice was served and Mauna Kea can stand tall,” she said.

Former Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee Moanikeala Akaka described TMT’s actions Wednesday as wonderful.

“It’s as it should be,” she said.

Akaka, also arrested for trying to block the TMT crews April 2, said she doubts it’s about being good stewards of the mountain. She said it’s more about protecting the equipment from winter weather and serving the project’s bottom line.

TMT spokesman Scott Ishikawa said mechanics visited the Mauna Kea work site Tuesday to repair the vehicles before they were loaded for transport Wednesday. He said it was unclear whether all the equipment was removed from the work site.

Project foes have been calling for the immediate removal of the telescope equipment ever since the high court ruling. But the state Attorney General’s Office said the equipment could remain on the mountain.

As planned, the observatory with an “extremely large telescope” capable of seeing more than 13 billion light years away would become operational in 2024.