The body of an Alabama woman has been removed from a front yard grave after a lengthy court fight.

One of Patsy Davis' daughters burst into tears as the vault containing her body came out of the ground Friday morning.

James Davis says that before she died, he promised to bury his wife at their log cabin home in Stevenson in northeast Alabama. However, the city sued and he eventually lost his legal battle to keep her remains there.

A judge this week approved a plan to remove the body.

Davis' wife, Patsy Davis, died in 2009.

James Davis says he now plans to cremate her remains and keep them in the house.