Are there laws for stealing artifacts or damaging sites?
Yes, there are stiff laws against looting (stealing) and vandalism (damaging) artifacts on public property state and city land, parks, forests, and so on. People who break these laws face big fines even jail time when they are caught harming a site. These laws exist to protect important “cultural resources” so that they can be properly studied or just left alone and saved for future generations. Here in Texas, artifacts and sites on private land are not protected by law. Many landowners value knowledge about the past and protect the cultural resources on their property. Others do not and may intentionally destroy or dig up artifacts and sites just to get the “good stuff.” This isn’t against the law, but it’s not a good idea. Just think, if everyone did that, we would lose many of our best clues to the past. Take the Alamo, for example. About 1900, that famous landmark was about to be destroyed to make way for more buildings in downtown San Antonio. If it wasn’t for Clara Driscoll and t
