Rhode Island General Laws
Chapter 11-44 - Trespass and Vandalism
Section 11-44-2. - Injury or removal of vegetation — Buildings and fences.

§ 11-44-2. Injury or removal of vegetation — Buildings and fences.
Every person who shall take and carry away, without the consent of the owner, any corn, grain, fruit, or growing vegetable out of any field, garden, or orchard, or who shall willfully and without the consent of the owner root up, cut down, or otherwise injure or destroy or take and carry away any tree or underwood growing or standing upon the land of another, or remove any cord wood, or shall maliciously root up, cut down, or otherwise injure or destroy any tree, root, fruit, or vegetable growing in any garden, field, orchard, highway, common, or public square, or who shall take and carry away, without the consent of the owner, any cultivated plant, tree, or shrub from any graveyard or from any public or private grounds, or who shall wantonly or maliciously injure or destroy any plant or shrub growing upon the land or in the building of another, or who shall poison the earth about any plant or shrub so as to prevent or injure its growth, or who shall maliciously or wantonly in any way injure or deface any building not his or her own, or break the glass or any part of it in any building, or shall maliciously injure any fence or stone wall on or enclosing lands not his or her own, shall be imprisoned not exceeding one year or be fined not exceeding triple the value of the damage or one thousand dollars ($1,000), whichever is lower; and shall be required to pay the party injured a penalty not to exceed triple the value of the damage caused by the person; provided, that if any person shall knowingly use or permit to be used any vehicle for the commission of any of the offenses enumerated in this section, he or she shall also be penalized in the manner specified in title 31.
History of Section.G.L. 1896, ch. 279, § 23; P.L. 1900, ch. 736, § 1; C.P.A. 1905, § 1177; G.L. 1909, ch. 345, § 23; G.L. 1923, ch. 397, § 23; P.L. 1928, ch. 1215, § 1; G.L. 1938, ch. 608, § 23; G.L. 1956, § 11-44-2; P.L. 1980, ch. 276, § 2; P.L. 1982, ch. 237, § 1; P.L. 1992, ch. 426, § 1.

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