2006 Code of Virginia § 62.1-187 - Punishment of offenses relating to buoys, beacons or day marks

62.1-187. Punishment of offenses relating to buoys, beacons or day marks.

Any person or persons who shall moor any vessel or vessels of any kind orname whatsoever or any raft or any part of a raft to any buoy, beacon, or daymark, placed in the waters of Virginia by authority of the United States orshall in any manner hang on with any vessel or raft or any part of a raft toany such buoy, beacon, or day mark, or shall willfully remove, damage ordestroy any such buoy, beacon or day mark, or shall cut down, remove, damageor destroy any beacon or beacons erected on land in this Commonwealth by theauthority of the United States or through unavoidable accident run down, dragfrom its position, or in any way injure any buoy, beacon, or day mark asaforesaid and shall fail to give notice as soon as practicable of having doneso to the harbor master or other legal manager of the port or to the UnitedStates Coast Guard within the district in which such buoy, beacon or day markmay be located, shall for every such offense be deemed guilty of amisdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not toexceed $200 or by imprisonment not to exceed three months or both; one-thirdof the fine in each case shall be paid to the informer and two-thirds thereofto the lighthouse board to be used in repairing the buoys and beacons.

Any person having charge of any raft passing any buoy, beacon or day mark whoshall not exercise due diligence in keeping clear of it, or if unavoidablyfouling it shall not exercise due diligence in clearing it without draggingfrom it such buoy, beacon or day mark shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, andupon conviction shall be punished by fine not to exceed fifty dollars.

(Code 1950, 62-175; 1968, c. 659.)