The Minnesota Department of Transportation has ordered a halt to drone flights over a work of art in Eagan.

In a written statement, the Minneapolis Institute of Art and Thomson Reuters confirmed that MnDOT had ordered them to stop flying an unmanned aircraft system, commonly known as a drone.

The device was being used to document the progress of crop artist Stan Herd's reproduction of Vincent van Gogh's painting "Olive Trees" on a one-acre plot owned by Thomson Reuters in Eagan. The project is part of the institute's centennial celebrations, and is designed to be seen from planes landing at Minneapolis-St Paul International.

The statement said the organizers had thought they had made the proper inquiries about using the device and that they were outside the 5-mile exclusion zone that bars such devices near airports. They said they would comply with the order.