Because of the quality of their service or the courage they showed on a battlefield, for example, to reward them for doing what they had to do properly, the government issued them a medal. At that point, if I'm not mistaken, the decoration is issued in good faith to tell the individual they have done proper work. If the government has given a medal in good faith, then it belongs to the person who received it. There's no elastic attached to the medal that means that when the person who received it wants to dispose of it, they have to give it back to whoever gave it to them. It was given to them; it belongs to the person who received it.
In the existing regulations, I see that insignia, decorations and medals become the property of the person to whom they were given. So the medal belongs to the person who received it, it doesn't belong to the government.