Standoff unfolds between Wisconsin and U.S. Navy over statue of a badger

There's a statuary standoff unfolding between the state of Wisconsin and a branch of the U.S. military.

The USS Wisconsin is no stranger to strife. The carrier's 16-inch guns pounded Japan during World War II, and the battleship sailed into the fight during the first Gulf War. But now, the ship finds itself in a battle over a badger-sized piece of history.

For more than 30 years, a statue of a badger that features the state motto has been on display in the state Capitol in Madison.

"It did not surprise me at all that this has become quite, quite a thing of contention and that people are pretty upset about it," historian Erika Janick told CBS News' Kris Van Cleave.

It belongs to the Navy, but since 1988 it has sat outside the governor's office in the state Capitol where visitors rub its nose for luck.

"There are generations of people who remember going to the Capitol, touching the badger's nose; they just have a connection to it. And so it wasn't surprising at all that the state doesn't really want to give it back," Janick said.

Badgers are a big deal in Wisconsin. In the state's early days miners digging in the ground were compared to badgers. It became the state animal, the namesake of the University of Wisconsin football team, and its mascot Bucky Badger.

The badger statue was part of the original USS Wisconsin, a battleship that was scrapped after WWI. Then came another USS Wisconsin, built during WWII, the very last battleship the U.S. Navy ever made. And it could soon be the badger's new home.