STATE
Group claims mural removal illegal
AUGUSTA — An attorney for the Maine Peoples Voting Coalition is claiming that Gov. Paul LePage is not authorized to remove the 36-foot mural at the Department of Labor.
The group issued a release this morning claiming that a petition could be filed with the State Museum Commission to stop LePage from moving the mural.
The administration plans to move the mural because LePage believes its depiction of Maine's labor history is too one-sided toward organized labor.
According to the MPVC's Jon Beal, a Portland attorney, the governor doesn't have the authority to remove the mural without approval from the Museum Commission, the artwork's current owner.
Beal cites a section of state law that says, "The Maine State Museum holds title, as trustee for the state, to all historical materials, other than documents or other library or archival items under the administrative jurisdiction of the Maine State Library or the Maine State Archives,