We have a farm in Maine that we do not live in. It is currently up for sale and unoccupied. Recently, our Real Estate agent called to inform us that not only were all the contents to our barn gone, but someone has stored a large amount of hay in it!
We called the police. This is the sixth break-in to the property in three years, including a theft of the home's wiring. (Copper, apparently, is worth the risk of this type of theft in our farm's area.) We will make a list of items for the police, and fully expect nothing to be found or returned as the other five break-ins remain unsolved.
While we are frustrated about the loss of our personal items, we know there is little we can do beyond filing a report. However, in regard to the other matter, we are very concerned about the use of our barn. We suspect the culprit is our neighbor, who in the past, told a family member that he "doesn't care who pays the mortgage; he has always worked our farmland [haying it and hunting on it]; and it's his." The officer handling our call said he knew the neighbor and would speak with him about removing the hay. Then the officer told us we should call him personally before visiting our home.
Isn't that a strange request? Why should anyone have to call the police before visiting their own home?
How can we stop this neighbor (or any others) from trespassing and using our property?
Our farm is covered with No Trespassing signs [the neighbor posted them for a previous owner of the farm]. The police officer said someone would visit the property up to three times a day. However, when we lived at the farm and one family member was there full-time, this same visitation schedule wasn't provided.
What legally can we do to protect our home?

You might consider having an attorney send him a formal letter, outlining the EXACT boundaries of your property, and indicating that you reserve all rights to the property (i.e. saying you have NOT given permission for your land to be used for haying or hunting), and, in whatever "legaleese" the attorney can come up with, a way of saying that anything found placed on your property will be considered abandoned or gifted and you reserve the right to sell, use, or destroy it.

You might also "spur" police by asking if items left behind in a burglary (like all the hay in your barn) are considered evidence and if they'd like to take all of that evidence for their burglary case, or if, as the owner of the property, the "evidence" is released to you - in which case you are then the proud owner of a barn full of hay which probably has value to someone.

If police are reluctant, then ask what your local procedure is for claiming found property. Since it can't be proven who put the hay in the barn, going thru whatever the process is could grant you legal right to the found property - which you could then sell or simply give away (helping to deter future "deposits). If the neighbor steps up to claim the hay, then he basically has to admit that HE is the burglar.

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While pointers can be helpful, ultimately the number one lesson in any legal action is: don't take legal advice from books, family, friends, co-workers, police officers, grocery clerks, web sites, or people on legal message boards. The only person who can give YOU legal advice is YOUR attorney.

http://www.aardvarc.org

I do agree with aardvarc. You should also browse through the information in LawInfo's Free Legal Resource Center to learn more about your issue. See: http://www.lawinfo.com/consumer.html. You can certainly try to speak to a lawyer to determine what legal options may be available. In the meantime, you may be able to learn more on your own. Search the "Free Legal Resources" tab, or browse the Consumer Resources. Good luck.