Lady Liberty's original torch moved to Museum

The Statue of Liberty's original torch has been moved from the base of the statue to its new home in a museum that will open next year.

"We're moving the original torch from the pedestal to the new museum so that everyone of the four and a half million people who come here each year can have their opportunity to see it up close," said CEO Stephen Briganti of the Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island Foundation.

The torch was replaced with a replica in the 1980s.

Visitors watched on Thursday as the base and the flame of the 1,632-kilo torch were trucked slowly and carefully to the museum construction site about 100 meters from the statue.

A replica of Lady Liberty's face was on board the truck to give viewers a reference as to the torch's size.

The torch was removed in 1984 because officials with the National Park Service and the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation determined that it was too badly damaged to restore.

A new torch was installed in 1985 and the old one was placed in a museum in the statue's base.

The new Statue of Liberty Museum will open in May 2019.