The Oak Bluffs historical commission on Wednesday unanimously agreed that a cottage in the federally protected Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association that was partially torn down earlier this year does fall under the protection of the town’s demolition delay bylaw.

As a result, commissioners agreed the extensive work done on the cottage at 5 Pease avenue owned by Donald and Deborah Harmon was illegal and should have been referred to the historical commission by the town building inspector.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Harmon were in attendance at Wednesday’s meeting, and argued they followed all the proper steps during the construction as outlined by local contractor Chip Mitchell of Sunrise Builders and town building inspector Jerry Wiener.

Mr. Mitchell was in attendance on Wednesday; Mr. Wiener was not.

Mr. Harmon said they received a building permit last fall from the town and the Camp Meeting Association to expand the kitchen on the first floor of the cottage and install a new bedroom on the second floor. Soon after, Mr. Wiener inspected the cottage and determined it was structurally unsound and needed to be raised up and placed on top of a newly built concrete foundation.

“That was devastating for us,” Mrs. Harmon said. “Both financially and because of losing our cottage.”

Mr. Wiener at one point discussed the possibility of the cottage being condemned because it was, in his opinion, “dilapidated and dangerous,” Mr. Harmon said. Mr. Wiener then raised the possibility of an emergency demolition.

Oak Bluffs has a demolition bylaw which requires a property owner to request a demolition permit from the building department contingent on approval from the historical commission.

If the building inspector determines the structure is an imminent threat to public health or safety, he can authorize an emergency demolition, but he must provide a detailed written explanation about why the building needed to be torn down. No written explanation was sent to the historical commission, town records show.

Members of the historical commission on Wednesday expressed frustration that they were never informed of the work being done to the Harmon cottage.

“The first I ever heard of it was from some concerned neighbors,” chairman Renee Balter said. “Then there was a call from one of the newspapers . . . I learned about this after the work had already taken place.”

“We went down there and saw the building was demolished already,” said commission member Priscilla Sylvia. “That is very unusual on this Island.”

Commission members reviewed the town demolition bylaw to determine if the cottage fell under its protection. Mrs. Balter noted that all structures 100 years or older are protected by the bylaw; the town assessors’ office states that the cottage was built in 1870.

Commission member David Wilson noted the entire Camp Ground was designated as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior in 2005.

Mr. Harmon said records kept with the Camp Meeting Association indicate the cottage dates to 1916; commission members speculated that was when the first lease was recorded, not the date of construction.

They said it was common in those years for cottages to be moved around and placed onto different lots.

Mr. Wilson said he had little doubt the building fell under the protection of the demolition bylaw protection.

“I personally feel this building should be treated as applicable . . . it is historic and it should be protected,” he said.

The discussion then turned to the sequence of events on June 27, in which a neighbor to the Harmon cottage, Brian Fitzpatrick, went to Camp Ground officials to report the Harmon cottage was being torn down.

Bob Clermont, general manager and executive director of the association, said he then visited the cottage and asked the workers if plans called for any more of the building to be torn down. The workers said there were no plans to tear down any more of the building, he said.

But to his surprise the demolition continued.

“They started taking off more [of the cottage] after I left,” Mr. Clermont said. “When I came back a considerable amount more had been removed.”

Mr. Clermont issued an immediate cease and desist order. No other work has occurred on the cottage since then. Meanwhile, two Camp Ground committees — the architectural review committee and building and grounds committee — have been reviewing the situation.

The cottage has been vacant and mostly covered by blue tarps all summer.

The commission voted 7-0 to declare the demolition delay bylaw does apply to the Harmon cottage. Then they took up the more vexing problem of how to mitigate the situation.

“What we have here is something that is already done,” Mrs. Balter said. “It’s hard to make a determination because it’s already a done deal.”

Commissioners agreed to hold a public hearing, possibly in late November or December. A letter will go out to the Harmons, the president of the Camp Meeting Association and Mr. Wiener with a summary of Wednesday’s meeting.

The commission will also review revised plans for the cottage currently before the Camp Ground architectural review board.