Antonin DeHays, a historian, has been accused of stealing dog tags of dead World War II troops from the National Archives facility in Maryland.
Federal investigators said he's been selling them on eBay for personal financial gain, according to a report in Stars and Stripes. The report identified DeHays as a 32-year-old Frenchman.
"The theft of our history should anger any citizen," the Archivist of the United States David Ferriero said Tuesday in a statement reported by Stars and Stripes, "but as a veteran I am shocked at allegations that a historian would show such disregard for records and artifacts documenting those captured or killed in World War II."
Investigators are accusing DeHays of theft from the National Archives at College Park, Maryland, since 2015, according to the news report, but archive staff didn't realize any of the dog tags had gone missing until this year.
DeHays made a few appearances at the National Archives, according to the staff. Last seen there on May 12, he asked to see box 352, which had several dog tags inside. Two weeks later, the staff noticed approximately 30 dog tags from the box were missing.
The complaint alleges that law enforcement found six dog tags and related documents belonging to the archives in DeHays' Maryland home.
If convicted, DeHays could serve up to 10 years in prison, prosecutors said in the report.
