Protesters disrupt groundbreaking, Hawaiian blessing for Thirty Meter Telescope atop Mauna Kea

Protesters are disrupting a groundbreaking and Hawaiian blessing ceremony for the construction of one of the world's largest telescopes at the summit of Mauna Kea.

The webcast host for Tuesday's event says a group of people blocked a caravan of buses carrying attendees to the mountain's summit. The webcast later showed protesters yelling amid attempts to start the blessing.

The webcast was shut down and it wasn't clear if the event would continue Tuesday.

The groundbreaking for the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope was being shown via the live webcast because of limited access to the construction site in an area with harsh physical conditions.

Some people oppose building the telescope in a place held sacred by Native Hawaiians.