Indianapolis is beginning to remove 10 billboards that the state Supreme Court ruled two years ago were illegally erected.

The work began Thursday to remove the first sign at the junction of Interstates 65 and 70 on the north side of the city's downtown.

A spokeswoman for Mayor Greg Ballard says the other billboards will be removed within the next few days.

In December 2005, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that the billboards violated a Marion County ordinance restricting the signs.

The company that erected the billboards has since gone out of business.

Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations land-use chairman Norman Pace called the billboards "litter on a stick."