2005 North Carolina Code - General Statutes § 14-148. Defacing or desecrating grave sites.

§ 14‑148.  Defacing or desecrating grave sites.

(a)       It is unlawful to willfully:

(1)       Throw, place or put any refuse, garbage or trash in or on any cemetery;

(2)       Take away, disturb, vandalize, destroy or change the location of any stone, brick, iron or other material or fence enclosing a cemetery without authorization of law or consent of the surviving spouse or next of kin of the deceased thereby causing damage of less than one thousand dollars ($1,000); or

(3)       Take away, disturb, vandalize, destroy, tamper with or deface any tombstone, headstone, monument, grave marker, grave ornamentation, grave artifacts, shrubbery, flowers, plants or other articles within any cemetery erected or placed to designate where a body is interred or to preserve and perpetuate the memory and name of any person, without authorization of law or the consent of the surviving spouse or next of kin, thereby causing damage of less than one thousand dollars ($1,000).

(b)       The provisions of this section shall not apply to a professional archaeologist as defined in G.S. 70‑28(4) acting pursuant to the provisions of Article 3 of Chapter 70 of the General Statutes.

(c)       Violation of this section is a Class 1 misdemeanor.  In passing sentence, the court shall consider the appropriateness of restitution or reparation as a condition of probation under G.S. 15A‑1343(b)(6) as an alternative to actual imposition of a fine, jail term, or both. (1840, c. 6; R.C., c. 34, s. 102; Code, s. 1088; Rev., s. 3680; C.S., s. 4320; 1969, c. 987; 1981, c. 752, s. 1, c. 853, s. 4; 1993, c. 539, s. 87; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).)