The Idaho house where four college students were killed in November 2022 was torn down Thursday despite objections from some family members of the victims.

Demolition crews began razing the house in Moscow, near the campus of the University of Idaho, early Thursday morning.

The owners donated the house to the university earlier this year. The school said it could take several days to completely clear the site.

On Nov. 13, 2022, Ethan Chapin, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21, were stabbed to death inside the rental home.

Bryan Kohberger, now 29, a doctoral student at nearby Washington State University, was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania on Dec. 30 and charged with four counts of murder and one count of felony burglary. A judge entered not-guilty pleas on Kohberger’s behalf in May after the defendant remained silent at his arraignment.

Prosecutors have requested a summer 2024 trial, but a trial date has not yet been set.

In the nearly seven weeks between the killings and Kohberger’s arrest, Moscow residents were on edge over fears that a serial killer was on the loose.

The Goncalves and Kernodle families released statements Wednesday urging the University of Idaho and Latah County Prosecutor’s Office to delay demolition of the house, arguing criminal evidence might be lost.

“If the home is demolished will all of these questions be able to be answered later on with diagrams/models/technology, etc...if they become an issue at trial,” the Goncalves family wrote in a Facebook post. “If not then leave the home alone!”

The university has said neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys have opposed the demolition. Both sides received access to the house this month, and the FBI in October scanned the home to create visual aids that could be used in the trial, according to university statements.

The demolition was timed to coincide with the school’s winter break.

“It is the grim reminder of the heinous act that took place there,” university President Scott Green said in a statement earlier this month. “While we appreciate the emotional connection some family members of the victims may have to this house, it is time for its removal and to allow the collective healing of our community to continue.”

It’s not clear what the university intends to do with the land next. The school is planning a “healing garden and memorial” honoring Chapin, Goncalves, Kernodle and Mogel, but it is expected to be placed elsewhere on the campus.