Sandy Hook Elementary School demolition has begun in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20-year-old gunman Adam Lanza killed 20 children and six adults before taking his own life last December.

Officials are going at great lengths to spare the feelings of the town's residents still shocked by the massacre. Everything from the site will be pulverized or melted down to ensure no artifacts will remain.

"Small scale demo activity has begun and will accelerate over the next days," First Selectman Pat Llodra told NBC Connecticut.

The demolition of the 56-year-old structure is expected to take at least four weeks.

"The process of demolition is incremental, staged precisely, and executed carefully," said Llodra, NBC Connecticut reported. "There is no 'wrecking ball' action. It is rather a piece by piece, section by section removal."

Security guards are placed on watch and no trespassing fences have been setup.

Verna Wargo, who has lived in Newtown for 38 years, said she believes the town made the right choice by demolishing and rebuilding on the old school site.

"You can tear it down, level it, and build a more secure structure," she told New York Daily News.