The Mexican Ministry of Culture has demanded the suspension of an auction in Colorado, reports the Latin American news channel TeleSUR. Organized by the Artemis Fine Arts in Louisville, Colorado, and scheduled for today, the sale, titled “Fine/Visual Art, Ancient, Ethnographic Art,” includes 80 artifacts of Mexican origin. The works were flagged by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), a federal agency one of whose roles is to protect the country’s cultural heritage.

“Our heritage is not an object of profit,” Culture Secretary Claudia Curiel de Icaza said. “Its defense is a permanent commitment to the memory and cultural sovereignty of Mexico.”