BANGOR – A state agency and federal judge on Friday told plane salvors to keep away from the site in southern Maine’s Sebago Lake where two British Corsairs went down in 1944.

State Historic Preservation Commission director Earle Shettleworth declared the site protected for a 10-year period and said it is illegal to disturb the lakebed or take artifacts from the site without a permit.

Shettleworth also said the site where the two propeller-driven training fighters crashed qualifies for the National Register of Historic places.

Lawyers for a salvage team were turned back when they went to federal court later in the day, according to John James, public affairs director at the Naval Air Station in Brunswick who has been monitoring the salvage efforts and ensuing legal action.

U.S. District Judge Margaret Kravchuk seized control of the planes and upheld Shettleworth’s order pending hearings next week, James said.

Friday’s action came after a team of explorers expressed interest in resolving the location and condition of the two warplanes that crashed during a training mission.

Peter Hess, a maritime lawyer from Wilmington, Del., estimated it would take days for crews from companies based in Maine and Florida to complete their site survey.

The British Royal Navy does not want the sites to be disturbed because it considers them graves.