invalid byte sequence for encoding "UTF8": 0xab

I am having a vexing problem with a script I am writing to populate reference tables in a new database.

I am running postgreSQL 8.3 with psql 8.3.7.

Psql reads this SQL statement:

    INSERT INTO META_AUTH.DOMAIN_META_ASSERTION (TITLE, DESCRIPTION, META_ASSERTION)

        VALUES ('Super-User Authorization',

                'This allows a super-user to administer all meta-data.',

                'UserID «Administer» ()');

and I get this message:

ERROR:  invalid byte sequence for encoding "UTF8": 0xab

HINT:  This error can also happen if the byte sequence does not match the encoding expected by the server, which is controlled by "client_encoding".

It is complaining about the ‘«’ character.  I do not understand why.  The database is created the commands

CREATE DATABASE mayyou

                WITH OWNER=meta_auth ENCODING='UTF8';

ALTER DATABASE mayyou SET client_encoding = 'UTF8';

When I give psql the \encoding command, it replies

                UTF8

Why is it complaining about this valid character code?