The end is nigh?

I've admired these snowdrops for years and watched the patch get bigger and bigger but fear their life may be coming to an end. A little further down the road a digger is excavating all the ditches to stop the road from flooding which it has done many times these last few months. So, does anyone know if it is illegal to dig up wild snowdrops and move them to a much more suitable spot ie outside my front gate? Or shall I just use the excuse that it is easier to apologise than ask permission and just dig them up anyway, before the digger gets to them?