39-14-408 - Vandalism. - Tennessee Statutes

39-14-408. Vandalism.

(a)  Any person who knowingly causes damage to or the destruction of any real or personal property of another or of the state, the United States, any county, city, or town knowing that the person does not have the owner's effective consent is guilty of an offense under this section.

(b)  For the purposes of this section:

     (1)  “Damage” includes, but is not limited to:

          (A)  Destroying, polluting or contaminating property; or

          (B)  Tampering with property and causing pecuniary loss or substantial inconvenience to the owner or a third person; and

     (2)  “Polluting” is the contamination by manmade or man-induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological or radiological integrity of the atmosphere, water, or soil to the material injury of the right of another. Pollutants include dredged soil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, and industrial, municipal and agricultural waste.

(c)  Acts of vandalism are to be valued according to the provisions of § 39-11-106(a)(36) and punished as theft under § 39-14-105.

[Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 1; 1997, ch. 284, § 3; 2005, ch. 353, § 16.]