§ 1705
Destruction of letter boxes or mail
Official text prohibited actmental stateif conditionpenaltylegal term
Whoever or injures, tears down or destroys any letter box or other receptacle intended or used for the receipt or delivery of mail on any mail route, or breaks open the same or or injures, defaces or destroys any mail deposited therein, shall be or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
History: (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 779 (PDF, 39 MB); May 24, 1949, ch. 139, §38, 63 Stat. 95 (PDF, 5.2 MB); Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, §330016(1)(H), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147 (PDF, 52 MB); Pub. L. 107–273, div. B, title III, §3002(a)(2), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1805.)
Simplified explanation
It is a federal crime to willfully or maliciously damage, tear down, destroy, or break open a mailbox, or to damage or destroy mail inside it.