§ 1858
Survey marks destroyed or removed
Official text prohibited actmental stateif conditionpenaltylegal term
Whoever destroys, defaces, changes, or removes to another place any section corner, quarter-section corner, or meander post, on any Government line of survey, or cuts down any witness tree or any tree blazed to mark the line of a Government survey, or defaces, changes, or removes any monument or bench mark of any Government survey, shall be or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.
History: (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 789 (PDF, 39 MB); Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, §330016(1)(E), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2146 (PDF, 52 MB).)
Simplified explanation
It is a federal crime to willfully destroy, deface, change, or move government land survey markers, such as corner posts, marked witness trees, monuments, or bench marks.