An archivist was accused on Monday of stealing historic documents from the New York State Library and selling them on eBay at an auction.

Daniel Lorello, 54, of Rensselaer, has been working for the state Education Department since 1979 as an archives and records management specialist and was charged on Monday of grand larceny, possession of stolen property and scheme to fraud, the Associated Press reports.

According to the investigators, Lorello tried to sell these items over the Internet in order to pay some of his bills.

Apparently among the things he has stolen was a signed 1832 letter from the former Vice President John Calhoun which was sold on eBay with bids up to $1,700.

A historian, Joseph Romito, saw the rare artifact and alerted the authorities because he knew that the document belonged to New York State.

Allegedly he also stolen a Winfield Scott Hancock calling card and Currier and Ives colored lithographs.

State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said: "These irreplaceable documents are the property of all New Yorkers. Public employees with access to records of New York state's vibrant history are trusted curators who must not abuse their power for personal gain."

After a raid made on Lorello’s house officials found other historic artifacts which belong to the state.

They think that he has been stealing the documents since 2002 and many times probably exchanged the items at trade shows.

According to officials, in just two sales of Davy Crockett Almanacs he gained $5,000.

Lorello has written a statement which was made public by the authorities. He said that he has stolen 400 artifacts.

The statement goes on: “No one at work ever suspected anything or challenged me at any time. The reason I increased my rate of stealing things was because I learned surveillance cameras were going to be installed."

He was then released and was on administrative leave from his department.