The owners of a Honolulu hula supply store are facing fines of up to $3,500 for taking 16 5-gallon buckets of stones from a Maui beach without a permit.

Michael and Sylvia Kop of Hula Supply Center on South King Street tried to ship the rocks on a Young Brothers barge, according to a report by the Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands, part of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Michael Kop told conservation officers the small rocks were meant to be used as 'ili 'ili stones by hula halau and for cultural purposes and lomilomi massage, the report said. The hula implements are used, two in each hand, to make clicking sounds.

However, the report noted the Kops' store sells a set of four stones for $12 and estimated the value of the 16 buckets of rocks at $4,800.

The Advertiser was unable to reach the Kops yesterday for comment.

The report said Young Brothers contacted state conservation officers on May 29 after receiving the rock-filled buckets for shipment to O'ahu the next day. Michael Kop admitted collecting the stones from a Waiehu beach known as Sand Piles but said he was unaware that a permit was required, the report said.

The beach is on state-owned land within a conservation district. It is illegal to remove rocks and other material from conservation districts without a permit.

The maximum fine for a conservation district violation is $2,000.

The Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands called the violation "serious" and is recommending the Kops pay a fine of $2,000, plus $1,500 in administrative costs. The Board of Land and Natural Resources is scheduled to discuss the case at its meeting Friday.

In a separate case, the board in July fined three Kane'ohe men $3,050 each for removing rocks from the same coastline.

The men were accused of loading their pickup trucks with 934 rocks from Paukukalo on Aug. 27, 2007, which they planned to take back to O'ahu on the Hawaii Superferry. The men said they wanted to use the large stones to replenish rocks for a church imu, or cooking pit.