MID Coast Cranes removed the war memorial's centre column with precision on Thursday.
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A handful of people watched the historic moment as part of a project to move the war memorial from the Town Green to the northern side of the Horton and Clarence Street intersection.
The delicate operation was a success.
Although the world globe and its base detached from the centre column as the crane lowered the structure, there was no damage.
Port Macquarie RSL Sub-branch president Greg Laird said he was relieved the centre column was down and it was not broken.
"We are obviously feeling a little bit sad it [the war memorial] is moving from this spot," he said in reference to the Town Green.
"We've got total confidence though that when it moves to the new spot it will have the ambience and everything it needs there to make it into a war memorial we can all be proud of."
Edstein Creative Stone is working with Port Macquarie-Hastings Council to move the war memorial.
A team of qualified stonemasons will disassemble the monument, and leave it on site, before it is moved to the new site for reassembly.
The war memorial will be a centrepiece of the Town Square where larger crowds can gather.
The Town Centre Master Plan reserve is funding the relocation after the council approved a development application lodged by Port Macquarie RSL Sub-branch to relocate the monument.