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Posted on 06/20/2008 2:58:11 PM PDT by blam
Ky. grand jury indicts Ohio man in rock dispute
June 19, 2008
FRANKFORT, Ky.: An Ohio historian could face hard time, all because of a rock.
A Kentucky grand jury indicted Steve Shaffer on Thursday for leading efforts to pull an 8-ton boulder known as Indian Head Rock from the Ohio River.
The indictment accuses Shaffer of breaking Kentucky law by removing a protected archaeological object, a felony. He could face one to five years in prison if convicted.
"I'm really surprised," Shaffer said. "It's not about historic preservation, we all know that. It's about revenge."
The rock's removal triggered a dispute between Shaffer and elected officials in Kentucky who insist it belongs in their state. Shaffer says he saved it from being damaged or lost forever. It now sits in a city garage in Portsmouth, Ohio.
The rock was once a navigation marker and an attraction for locals who ventured out to carve their names into it, but it hadn't been seen since the 1920s.
It remained mostly submerged until September, when Shaffer led the crew that pulled it from the river, which forms a border between Ohio and Kentucky.
The rock has carvings of initials, names and a crude face that some claim is a petroglyph carved by an unknown American Indian.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
GGG Ping.
Poor guy is caught between a rock and a hard place.
Well, yea, but just because he stole it in broad daylight in front of witnesses doesn’t make it OK. He’s a moron
Agreed.
I was making, what in hindsight appears to be, a poor attempt at humor.
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Thanks Blam. |
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[cues up AC/DC]
:’)
RE: “...a protected archaeological object...”
It would be interesting to see how broadly this is defined. Is every rock in the state suddenly protected (and declared state property) if an archaeologist takes interest?
Of course, if I had clicked the link and read further, I would have seen that the rock was individually registered in 1986.
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