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Virginia statute

Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-137 — Injuring, etc., any property, monument, etc

Current through 2026 Regular Session

Part of Article 6: Damage to Realty and Personalty Thereon, Code of Virginia.

Criminal charges under this statute

Full text of Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-137

Statutory text current through the 2026 Regular Session. This publication reproduces the text of the Code of Virginia from the official Virginia Law Portal API published by the Virginia General Assembly's Division of Legislative Automated Systems; it is not the official Code of Virginia.

Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-137Primary source, current through the 2026 Regular Session
A. If any person unlawfully destroys, defaces, damages, or removes without the intent to steal any property, real or personal, not his own, or breaks down, destroys, defaces, damages, or removes without the intent to steal, any monument or memorial for war veterans, not his own, described in § 15.2-1812 ; any monument erected to mark the site of any engagement fought during the Civil War, or any memorial to designate the boundaries of any city, town, tract of land, or any tree marked for that purpose, he shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor, provided that the court may, in its discretion, dismiss the charge if the locality or organization that owns or is responsible for maintaining the injured property, monument, or memorial files a written affidavit with the court stating it has received full payment for the injury. B. If any person who is not the owner of such property intentionally causes such injury, he is guilty of (i) a Class 1 misdemeanor if the value of or damage to the property, memorial, or monument is less than $1,000 or (ii) a Class 6 felony if the value of or damage to the property, memorial, or monument is $1,000 or more. The amount of loss caused by the destruction, defacing, damage, or removal of such property, memorial, or monument may be established by proof of the fair market cost of repair or fair market replacement value. Upon conviction, the court may order that the defendant pay restitution.

Official sources

Legal terms used in this section

Questions this section answers

Is injuring, etc., any property, monument, etc a felony or a misdemeanor in Virginia?

It depends on the circumstances: injuring, etc., any property, monument, etc ranges from a class 3 misdemeanor to a class 6 felony in Virginia under Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-137.

Unlawful destruction/damage without intent to steal: class 3 misdemeanor (Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-137A) · Intentional injury to property/monument - under $1,000: class 1 misdemeanor (Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-137B) · Intentional injury to property/monument - $1,000 or more: class 6 felony (Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-137B)

Which Virginia statute covers injuring, etc., any property, monument, etc?

Injuring, etc., any property, monument, etc is governed by Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-137 (Injuring, etc., any property, monument, etc).

This reference is informational and is not legal advice.