Maine Revised Statutes Title 27. Libraries, History, Culture and Art § 376. Antiquities recovered from protected sites

1. State-owned artifacts to remain in Maine. No artifacts, objects, specimens or materials originating from a protected site on state-controlled land may be authorized to leave the State permanently without written permission of the permittors. They may be loaned for a term specified by the permittors for proper study or exhibit.

2. Sale of artifacts. Attempts to sell, offers of sale and sale of artifacts, objects or specimens, excavated after the effective date of this Act, whether excavated lawfully or unlawfully from a protected site, without the written permission of the permit grantors or the Director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission and the Director of the State Museum, are punishable by a civil penalty not greater than twice the price for which artifacts, objects or specimens are sold or offered for sale.

3. Prosecution. The Attorney General, upon receiving notification and evidence of violation of this section from the Director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, is authorized to file a complaint against the person named in the District Court of the district in which the person resides or in the district in which the violation occurred.

4. Artifact ownership. Artifacts, objects, materials and specimens recovered from protected sites on state-controlled land are the property of the State Museum. Artifacts, objects, specimens or materials originating from a site on other than state-controlled land are the property of the landowner and must be deposited with a suitable repository as designated by the landowner in the preservation agreement or the permit.