GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Four protesters chained themselves to a massive stator that has been moving through the Upstate, Greenville County deputies said on Monday morning.

Also: View Map Of Planned Route

The 880,000-pound generator part is on its way to Duke Energy's Cliffside Steam Station in Boiling Springs, N.C.

An environmental group from North Carolina called Asheville Rising Tide said in a statement sent to FOX Carolina that the protesters are vowing to prevent the generator from reaching the coal plant.

The stator entered the county at about noon on Nov. 20 near Princeton along Highway 25 and parked near the intersection with Interstate 85. The transporter was scheduled to wind its way through the west side of Greenville before parking just south of Highway 11 on Nov. 22, but wet weather prevented the move.

Deputies said that about a dozen protesters were at the site along Highway 25 on Monday morning. They said four of them climbed on top of the stator and chained themselves to it. A sign reading "Stop Cliffside" was also seen hanging on the side of the rig.

The four protesters, 21-year-old Rachel Scarano, of Asheville, N.C., 22-year-old Catherine MacDougal, of Asheville, N.C., 20-year-old Julia Page, of State College, Penn., and 21-year-old Paul Loomis, of Durham, N.C., were charged with public disorderly conduct.

A representative of Duke Energy said that they have seen a lot of interest from the public as the stator has moved along its route, but they have never had any protests before.

A stator is a stationary part of a motor, dynamo, turbine, or other working machine about which a rotor turns, according to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.