Some North Babylon residents told News 12 earlier this week they were concerned about a man with a metal detector who was spotted digging in their neighborhood. It was captured on surveillance video. News 12 has confirmed that the man was a surveyor who was on the job working for Scalice Land Surveying.

Under the law, a surveyor “may enter upon or cross any lands necessary to perform surveying services” provided that they make “reasonable efforts” to notify the landowner that they’re there to make a land survey. They also have to operate “during reasonable hours” and carry “proper identification.”

Surveyors sometimes go to multiple properties to look for “monuments,” according to Nassau-Suffolk Civil Engineers President Scott Gillis. He describes a monument as a permanent fixture establishing a known point of reference.

Scalice Land Surveying told News 12 that as a courtesy, workers usually put up door hangers notifying residents they’ll be there conducting a survey, but the surveyor working the North Babylon job had run out of them.