GIRDWOOD - A new show set to air on the television network Spike has archaeologists and museum curators circulating a petition to get the show cancelled.
The show, American Digger, features former wrestler Ric Savage and his team searching through battlefields and historic sites looking for artifacts.
A petition, known as Stop Spike TV from Looting our Collective Past, now has more than 11,000 signatures from museum curators and archaeologists.
They said the show "encourages and glorifies looting and the antiquities trade at the expense of American history."
Valdez Museum Curator Andrew Goldstein said amateurs should not be taking historical artifacts out of context, “It's undermining the potential for education about the historic sites, it's deteriorating the historic value.”
Spike TV spokesperson Shana Tepper had a different view on the upcoming show.
“It's shot on private property, in an arrangement made by Ric Savage, and the homeowner and the show does not dig on public land.”
According to Tepper, the first episode was actually shot in Girdwood and premieres Wednesday, March 21.
