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The Pentagon asked Google yesterday to remove some photos it had taken of a military base for its Street View service, which appears on Google Maps.

 Google Street View

The driver of a Street View car was given access to the Fort Sam Houston base after telling a base official that Google would not photograph or videotape on the premises.  The official thought an online map would be helpful to visitors.

When the photos appeared on Google Maps, the Pentagon contacted Google and asked that they be removed. Google took down the images within 24 hours. Gary Ross, spokesman for the U.S. Northern Command, said the photos posted on the Web could be a security threat.

"We don't have any issues regarding Google and their products, which are very useful tools," Ross told the L.A. Times. "But the Street View provides clear imagery of control points, barriers, headquarters and security facilities that pose a risk to our force-protection efforts."

Google spokesman Larry Yu said the Street View driver violated Google's strict policy of not going onto military bases and private property. "Against our policy, we did mistakenly access the base," Yu said.