FARGO (AP) - A petition drive aims to fight a plan to move a Ten Commandments monument from the City Hall mall, where it has stood for nearly 50 years.

"I think the people in the city overwhelmingly favor keeping the monument where it is," said Martin Wishnatsky, a Fargo religious activist. "I think the city commission majority is out of tune with the voters."

Commissioners voted 3-2 Monday night to move the monument off city property and donate it to a private group.

Commissioners Linda Coates, Tim Mahoney and Mike Williams voted to move the monument. Mayor Dennis Walaker and Commissioner Brad Wimmer voted no.

The commission will accept proposals for two weeks and decide July 16 who gets the monument.

Wishnatsky's petition seeks to add a section to city law saying, "The Ten Commandments monument on the lawn of Fargo City Hall shall remain where it has stood since its original installation and shall not be removed."

The 6-foot-by-3-foot monument was donated to the city by the Fraternal Order of Eagles in 1958, to commemorate an urban renewal project.

To bring an initiated ordinance to the City Commission, Wishnatsky and his sponsoring committee must collect at least 2,850 valid signatures, which is 15 percent of the number of voters who voted in last year's mayoral election, city Auditor Steve Sprague said.