Vandalism

Vandalism in Virginia is the unlawful or intentional destruction or damaging of property.  Vandalism is generally charged under Va. Code §18.2-137, but there are also a number of Virginia vandalism charges that apply to specific types of property and locations.

Virginia Vandalism Charge §18.2-137

Vandalism in Virginia under Va. Code §18.2-137 is the unlawful or intentional destruction, defacing, damaging or removing of another person’s personal or real property without the intent to steal.  The statute also criminalizes breaking down, destroying, defacing, damaging, or removing a memorial or monument for war veterans, a monument noting the location of civil war battle sites , or a mVirginia vandalism chargesonument or tree designating the boundaries of a city, town, or tract of land without the intent to steal.

Unlawful destruction of property is the destruction of property caused by an unlawful act or a lawful act committed in an unlawful manner.  Unlawful destruction of property is a Class 3 misdemeanor.  It is punished by a fine up to $500.

Intentional destruction of property is a Class 1 misdemeanor if the value of the property destroyed or the value of the damage caused to the property is less than $1000.  It is punished with up to 12 months in jail and a fine up to $2500.  If the value of the property destroyed or the value of the damage caused to the property is more than $1000, the offense is a Class 6 felony, punished with up to 5 years in prison and a fine up to $2500.  The offender may also be ordered to pay restitution if convicted of intentional destruction of property under Va. Code §18.2-137.

Other Virginia Vandalism Charges

Virginia Vandalism Charges Involving Churches and Cemeteries
  • It is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Va. Code §18.2-127(A)(1) to maliciously or willfully destroy, cut, break or injure a tree, shrub or plant on church property or in a cemetery.
  • Va. Code §18.2-127(A)(2) prohibits the willful or malicious destruction, mutilation, injury or removal of flowers, wreaths, vases or other ornaments in a church, on church property, on a grave or in a cemetery.  This offense is punished with up to 12 months in jail and a fine up to $2500.
  • Willfully or maliciously blocking ingress to or egress from a church or cemetery is a Class 1 misdemeanor under §18.2-127(A)(3).
  • It is a Class 6 felony under Va. Code §18.2-127(B) to willfully or maliciously destroy, mutilate, deface, injure or remove any object or structure attached inside a church or on church property.
  • Va. Code §18.2-127(B) also prohibits the willful or malicious destruction, mutilation, defacement, injuring or removal of a tomb, monument, gravestone, fence, railing or other structure from a cemetery.  The offender may be ordered to pay restitution to the church or cemetery.
  • The unlawful, knowing and intentional exhuming or displacing of a dead body is a Class 4 felony under Va. Code §18.2-126.A.
  • Defiling a dead human body is criminalized under Va. Code §18.2-126(B) and is punished with up to 5 years in prison.
Virginia Vandalism Charges Involving Transportation Facilities
  • tampering-with-a-traffic-control-signal-is-a-class-1-misdemeanor-in-virginiaTampering with traffic control signals and street signs is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Va. Code §46.2-832.
  • It is a Class 4 felony under Va. Code §18.2-153 to maliciously obstruct, remove or injure any part of a canal, railroad or electric lines.  Unlawful obstruction, removal or injury of any part of a canal, railroad or electric line is a Class 6 felony.
  • It is also a felony under Va. Code §18.2-153 to tamper with any machinery, cars or wires of a canal, railroad or electric line or to tamper with a switch or signal.
  • Unlawfully tampering with a railroad signal is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Va. Code §18.2-155.  Maliciously tampering with a railroad signal is a Class 4 felony if the life of any person was put in peril as a result of the tampering.
  • Tampering with airplanes, flying devices, and airport, landing field or drop zone signals is a crime under Va. Code §5.1-16 punished with up to 30 days in jail and a $100 fine.
  • It is a felony under Va. Code §18.2-147.1 to break the lock of a railroad car, vessel, aircraft or other vehicle or of a pipeline system containing property.
  • It is also a Class 3 misdemeanor under §18.2-157 to destroy a cattle stop along a railroad line.
  • Tampering with a bouy, beacon or day mark or unintentionally damaging a buoy, beacon or day mark and failing to report the damage is a misdemeanor punished with a fine up to $200 and or 3 months in jail pursuant to Va. Code §62.1-187.
  • The willful or malicious destruction of a fence on a railroad line is a Class 3 misdemeanor under Va. Code §18.2-157.
Virginia Vandalism Charges Involving Public Building and Public Property
  • It is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Va. Code §18.2-138(i) to willfully and maliciously break the window or door of the state Capitol, a courthouse, a house of public worship, college, schoolhouse, city hall, town hall, public library or other public building if the damage.  If the damage is more than $1000, the offense is a felony punished with up to 5 years in prison.
  • Damage or defacement of the Capitol or other public building or any statue in the Capitol Square, or in or on any other public building or property is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Va. Code §18.2-138(ii) if the damage was less than $1000.  It is a Class 6 felony if the damage exceeded $1000.
  • Va. Code §18.2-138(iii) provides that destroying any property in the Capitol, a courthouse, a house of public worship, college, schoolhouse, city hall, town hall, public library or other public building is a Class 1 misdemeanor if the damage was less than $1000.  It is a felony if the damage is more than $1000.
  • The unauthorized destruction of a tree, fence or herbage on the grounds of the Capitol or in a public square is a Class 3 misdemeanor under Va. Code §18.2-139.
  • Damaging or defacing a book or other property in a library or other educational institution is a misdemeanor if the damage to the property is less than $1000 and is a felony if the damage is more than $1000 under Va. Code §18.2-138.
  • The willful and malicious destruction of public documents is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Va. Code §42.1-72.
  • Va. Code §44-109 provides that willfully or maliciously destroying, injuring or defacing military property is punished with 2 weeks to 2 months in jail or a fine up to twice the value of the property destroyed.
  • The unauthorized destruction, removal, damage or molestation of property of the Institute of Marine Science is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Va. Code §28.2-1102.
Virginia Vandalism Charges Involving Vehicles
  • Breaking, tampering with or removing any part of a vehicle, aircraft, boat or vessel to destroy the vehicle or prevent it’s useful operation is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Va. Code §18.2-146.
  • Entering a vehicle to commit a crime, for malicious mischief, or to cause injury to the vehicle or setting a vehicle in motion without permission is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Va. Code §18.2-147.
  • Va. Code §18.2-147.2 states that it is a Class 1 misdemeanor to manufacture, distribute, possess or place on a highway or private property devices designed to puncture tires.
  • Damaging another person’s vehicle that is engaged in commerce on a highway is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Va. Code §46.2-818(3).
  • The willful or malicious removal of waste or packing from a vehicle operated on a railroad is a felony punished with up to 5 years in prison under §18.2-156.
  • Intentionally casting away or destroying a ship or other watercraft with the intent to injure or defraud is a misdemeanor under §18.2-150 if the value of the property destroyed is less than $200.  The same act is a felony if the value of the property is more than $200.
  • Tampering with an emergency medical services vehicle with the intent to prevent useful operation is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Va. Code §18.2-151.1.
  • Intentionally destroying a rented vehicle or animal by hard driving or reckless driving, or allowing another person to intentionally destroy a rented vehicle in Virginia is a Class 3 misdemeanor under §18.2-149.
Virginia Vandalism Charges Involving Damage to Public Utilities
  • Tampering with Cable TV lines is a Class 3 misdemeanor under §18.2-165.1.
  • Tampering with TV and radio signals and equipment is a Class 3 misdemeanor under §18.2-165.
  • Va. Code §18.2-162 provides that tampering with public utilities is a misdemeanor if the repair costs are less than $200.  If the repair costs exceed $200, the offense is a Class 4 felony.  If the tampering threatens the release of radioactive materials, the offense is a Class 4 felony.  If a person is injured as a result, it is a Class 3 felony.  If death tampering-with-a-fire-hydrant-is-a-class-2-misdemeanor-in-virginiaresults, the offense becomes a Class 2 felony.
  • Tampering with a metering device is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Va. Code §18.2-163.
  • Tampering with telephone lines is a Class 2 misdemeanor under Va. Code §18.2-164.  If the tampering is done to prevent law enforcement from being summoned, it is a Class 1 misdemeanor.
  • Tampering with a fire hydrant and diverting public water is a Class 2 misdemeanor under §18.2-162.1.
Virginia Vandalism Charges Involving Caves
  • Vandalizing a cave in Virginia is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Va. Code §10.1-1004.
  • It is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Va. Code §10.1-1005 to dump garbage, dead animals, sewage or toxic substances in a cave or sinkhole without permission.  The statute is also violated by burning a material in a cave or sinkhole that produces smoke or gas harmful o organisms living in the cave.
  • The unauthorized excavation of a cave is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Va. Code §10.1-1003.
  • Removing, killing, harming or disturbing an organism in a cave is a Class 3 misdemeanor under Va. Code §10.1-1006.
  • Removing and selling stalactites or stalagmites in Virginia or exporting them out of Virginia is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Va. Code §10.1-1007.
Other Virginia Vandalism Charges
  • It is a Class 4 misdemeanor under Va. Code §18.2-143 to pull down another person’s fence and leave it down without permission.  The same statute criminalizes opening and leaving open another person’s gate, opening a gate across a public road, or a gate at railroad right of way crossing without permission.
  • Tampering with a facility involved in the sale, manufacturing or storage of infectious biological substances with the intent to release those substances an cause injury is a Class 4 felony under §18.2-52.1.
  • Intentionally tampering with a farm product used for testing or research purposes is a Class 1 misdemeanor under §18.2-145.1 if the value of the farm product was less than $200.  If the value was more than $200, the offense is a felony.
  • Conducting a archaeological activities without a permit in Virginia is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Va. Code §10.1-2302.
  • It is a criminal misdemeanor to intentionally deface, damage, destroy, displace, disturb or remove any antiquity in Virginia under Va. Code §10.1-2306.
  • Tampering with firefighting equipment in Virginia is a Class 1 misdemeanor under §18.2-151.1(i).
  • The unauthorized release of animals confined for research or educational purposes with the intent to obstruct a lawful purpose is a Class 1 misdemeanor under §18.2-403.4.
  • Tearing up or destroying trees, shrubs, plants or flowers on another person’s land without permission is a Class 3 misdemeanor under §18.2-140.
  • Hunting on another person’s property while carrying an axe, saw, or other tool used to destroy trees without permission is a Class 3 misdemeanor under §18.2-141.
  • It is also a misdemeanor under Va. Code §46.2-818(2) to intentionally block the entrance or exit of a gas station, service station, or rest stop.posting-no-trespassing-signs-on-anothers-property-without-permission-is-a-criminal-misdemeanor
  • Tampering with a parking meter, vending machine or pay phone (Va. Code §18.2-152) with the intent to steal is a Class 1 misdemeanor for a first offense.  A second or subsequent offense is a felony.
  • Destroying or taking down No Hunting signs without permission is a Class 3 misdemeanor under Va. Code §18.2-135.
  • Trespassing with the intent to cause property damage is a Class 1 misdemeanor (Va. Code §18.2-121).
  • The knowing and intentional posting of No Trespass signs on someone else’s land without permission is burnished with a fine up to $500 under §18.2-119.1.