As provided in G.S. § 14-148, if any person shall, unlawfully and on purpose, remove from its place any monument of marble, stone, brass, wood or other material, erected for the purpose of designating the spot where any dead body is interred, or for the purpose of preserving and perpetuating the memory, name, fame, birth, age or death of any person, whether situated in or out of the common burying ground, or shall unlawfully and on purpose break or deface a monument, or alter the letters, marks or inscription thereof, he or she shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Provided that nothing contained in this section shall preclude operators of public or private cemeteries from exercising all the powers reserved to them in their respective rules and regulations relating to the use and care of cemeteries.
(1981 Code, § 13-6) Penalty, see § 93.99