SCHOODIC PENINSULA — Most folks are good-natured when caught stealing rocks at Schoodic Peninsula, the mainland section of Acadia National Park.

At one beach, park ranger Bill Weidner had a hunch.

“The hatch was open on a van, stacks of clean towels in back,” he said. He politely approached the owner.

He said to the woman at the van, “You know, I was kind of wondering if you have any rocks.” She laughed, and Weidner responded, “I don’t see the joke.”

She then said, “Well, we were loading these rocks, and my husband said, ‘I hope the rock police don’t come.'”

Weidner conceded the violators “have a sense of humor.”

A congenial man whose daily duties include monitoring the safety of sightseers perilously close to Schoodic’s surf, Weidner also oversees the integrity of the natural resource. Recently, he pointed out the vast, fractured ledges of pink granite, interspersed with black basalt and the odd rounded boulder carried by glacier from a distinct geological region miles away.

“There’s so much uniqueness among these rocks,” he said.

That’s why folks steal them. After all, the glacier-scoured, wave-polished rounded stones most attractive are beguiling to the eye and pleasant to handle. It’s natural that people want souvenirs where the supply seems endless.

But it’s illegal to take them. The federal violation results in a $50 fine and $25 court fee. Revenue goes to a fund for federal-crime victims.

Some favor “wish” rocks—mainly black, with a white ring. Heart-shaped rocks are popular. People take rocks for landscaping.

Why is it illegal to collect this abundant resource?

“If you like those rocks, if you take them away, the next person won’t be able to see them. They belong to everyone,” he said.

The other aspect of the rock story is the tendency of some people to build trail cairns or beach sculptures. The former, said Weidner, poses a safety risk for other hikers trying to keep to the trail. The latter is an aesthetic invasion.

“All of the staff and volunteers knock them down,” he said. “The idea of a national park is to see it the way it is.”

Weidner, who has worked at Acadia on and off since 1977, has plenty more stories.