Parties to a suit have said that the discovery of 10-million-year-old fossil whale bones in a Maryland cliff has led to a lawsuit over ownership and property rights.

The Baltimore Sun has reported Monday The bones were observed two years ago below the cliff-top home of Shmuel Rotenstreich, a 63-year-old computer scientist living in Chesapeake Ranch Estates. When asked by a paleontologist from a local museum if he minded their excavating the bones, Rotenstreich said he didn't.

Rotenstreich said, "He's a scientist. I'm a scientist, too. So I said, 'Obviously not.'"

The newspaper further reported that after five months of digging, the local community association filed a suit against Rotenstreich and the museum, claiming that neither the cliff nor the skeleton belonged to him.

The association had a survey made to prove it owned the cliff face and told the museum it was trespassing.

John A. Eney, president of the Property Owners' Association of Chesapeake Ranch Estates, said that in its lawsuit, the association wants the court to affirm its ownership and its right to control access to the cliffs. It also wants to keep the museum from entering the property without permission and it wants to recover legal costs of $140,000.

It was also reported by the Sun that with an out-of-court settlement unlikely, the suit is headed to court. (With Inputs from Agencies)