Raleigh, N.C. — State officials have notified 21 coastal property owners that they must remove their protective sandbags.

The large sandbags were supposed to be a temporary way to protect buildings from the encroaching ocean until an alternative solution could be found. Many of the sandbags have been in place for more than seven years, and state regulators decided to enforce the temporary permits property owners received to place the sandbags on the beach.

All but two of the 21 properties notified are in Nags Head, and many are Sea Gull Drive houses that were condemned after the recent nor’easter. The other two include a house on Figure Eight Island near Wilmington and the now-famous house used in the just-released movie "Nights in Rodanthe."