Violators will be prosecuted

North Oaks, a suburb in St. Paul, Minnesota, has demanded that Google remove images of its streets from Google Maps.

The city of North Oaks, which houses 4500 residents, says the search giant trespassed on what the community considers to be private property. (According to Search Engine Land, Google employees visited the town by car to photograph streets for the Google Maps StreetView feature.)

Mayor Thomas Watson stated, "It's not the hoity-toity folks trying to figure out how to keep the world away. [Google] really [doesn't] have any authorization to go on private property."

Google has complied to the request. This is the first time a town has demanded that Google exclude photos of its streets from Google Maps, reports Star Tribune.