Human bones &#8220not from the Civil War, but they’ve been there a while” were found in the Vicksburg National Military Park Monday as officials continued to investigate a theft of relics and vandalism.

This morning, dozens of investigators were in a heavily wooded area between railroad tracks and the Texas Memorial on the South Loop.

Rick Martin, the federal park’s chief of operations, said he and another employee discovered a skull Monday, &#8220and we didn’t touch the scene from there.”

The FBI was called, but it declined to take the case because of a heavy workload, Martin said. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, a division of the highway patrol, is handling the case, but declined comment.

The Railroad Redoubt is on the South Loop of the federal park created by Congress in 1899 to preserve the scene of Civil War fighting in 1862 and 1863. Kansas City Southern tracks run near where the bones were found. Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey said the skeletal remains were &#8220partial, with some clothing.”

Investigators from MBI, the Vicksburg Police Department, the National Park Service and the Warren County Sheriff’s Department gathered under a tent as officers went in and out of the woods processing evidence.

Sheriff Martin Pace said nothing found is consistent with any of the county’s missing persons cases.

&#8220From what we have observed thus far, it does not appear they would be (related to) any case the sheriff’s department would currently be working,” he said.

West of the Railroad Redoubt, the National Park Service was still looking for clues to lead them to illegal relic hunters who dug more than 100 holes around the Texas Memorial less than two weeks ago. Under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 (ARPA), it is a federal felony to excavate, remove, damage, alter, or deface archaeological resources on federal or Indian land. It’s also illegal to traffic materials or items found on such land.

Penalties for ARPA violators include being fined $20,000 and imprisoned two years. Subsequent convictions could result in $100,000 fines and five years in prison.