ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's highest court has upheld a Georgia statute that allows trees to be chopped down under certain circumstances so that billboard companies can advertise along highways.

The Supreme Court of Georgia's ruling in a Columbus case was announced Monday morning.

The case arose after CBS Outdoor Inc., which owns billboards across the state, in 2006 submitted 10 permit applications to the Georgia Department of Transportation to remove trees along I-185 in Columbus.

The city of Columbus, Gateways Foundation and Trees Columbus Inc., a non-profit which donates and conserves trees, filed a lawsuit in Muscogee County to stop the trees from being removed.

In Monday's ruling, the court found that Georgia's statute is constitutional after several earlier decisions in the case.