According to The Washington Post, a former convent in Los Feliz, California has become the subject of a heated legal battle after two elderly nuns sold the property in an attempt to stop singer Katy Perry from buying it.

At the center of the dispute is who owns the valuable hilltop real estate, which has been unoccupied since the Archdiocese of Los Angeles relocated the last of the convent’s five surviving sisters in 2011. From KCBS:

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has been in talks with pop superstar Katy Perry, who first learned of the property three years ago. The newspaper says Perry has agreed to pay the archdiocese $14.5 million in cash.

But the nuns insist the property is theirs, and that they don’t want it to go to Perry.

That’s reportedly why they sold the property two weeks ago to local restaurateur Dana Hollister, while the archdiocese deal was pending, according to the [L.A.] Times.

The archdiocese has since sued to stop the sale, saying in a statement, “Unfortunately, the Archdiocese had to take civil action to protect against the unauthorized action by Ms. Hollister.”

For their part, the nuns say they were unfamiliar with singer until relatively recently.

“Well, I found Katy Perry and I found her videos and ... if it’s all right to say, I wasn’t happy with any of it,” Sister Rita Callanan told the Times.

Perry, however, finally met with the sisters last month, reportedly showing them “a ‘Jesus’ tattoo on her wrist area” and treating them to a private performance of “Oh Happy Day.”

“Our days have not been happy since then,” Sister Rita told Today on Monday, “I can assure you.”

[Image via Getty Images]