§ 8.01-44.6.Action for injury to cemetery property.
Chapter 3. Actions · Article 3. Injury to Person or Property · Last amended 2004 · Last verified July 16, 2026
In one sentenceLets a cemetery company’s owner or operator sue for the cost of repairing or replacing tombs, monuments, gravestones, or protective structures that someone willfully or maliciously destroys, defaces, or removes, including labor costs, whether the damaged property belongs to the cemetery itself or to someone else, such as a family plot owner.
Full Text of § 8.01-44.6
Text size
The owner or operator of a cemetery company may bring an action to recover damages sustained, together with costs and reasonable attorneys' fees, against any person who willfully or maliciously destroys, mutilates, defaces, injures, or removes any tomb, monument, gravestone, or other structure placed within any cemetery, graveyard, or place of
burial, or within any lot belonging to any memorial or monumental association, or any fence, railing, or other work for the protection or ornament of any tomb, monument, gravestone, or other structure aforesaid, or of any cemetery lot within any cemetery. The cemetery owner or operator may recover, as part of damages sustained, the cost of repair or replacement of damaged property, including any labor costs, regardless of whether the property damaged is owned by the cemetery or by another person.
Plain-English Summary
The owner or operator of a cemetery company may bring an action to recover damages sustained, together with costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees, against anyone who willfully or maliciously destroys, mutilates, defaces, injures, or removes a tomb, monument, gravestone, or other structure placed within a cemetery, graveyard, or place of burial, or within a lot belonging to a memorial or monumental association, or any fence, railing, or other protective or ornamental work for such structures or for any cemetery lot.
As part of the damages recovered, the cemetery owner or operator may include the cost of repair or replacement of the damaged property, including labor costs, regardless of whether the damaged property is owned by the cemetery itself or by another person, such as the owner of an individual burial plot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can bring a lawsuit under this section?
The owner or operator of a cemetery company.
What kind of property does this section protect?
Tombs, monuments, gravestones, and other structures in a cemetery, graveyard, or burial place, along with the fences, railings, and similar protective or ornamental work for those structures or for cemetery lots.
Can the cemetery sue for damage to a gravestone it does not own?
Yes. The section allows recovery of repair or replacement costs regardless of whether the damaged property is owned by the cemetery or by another person.
What can the cemetery recover in damages?
Damages sustained, including the cost of repair or replacement, together with labor costs, plus costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees.
Does this section cover accidental damage, or only intentional acts?
Only willful or malicious destruction, mutilation, defacement, injury, or removal — the section does not reach purely accidental damage.
Amendment History
2004, c. 203.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Code of Virginia, published by the
Code of Virginia, Virginia Division of Legislative Automated Systems. Last verified July 16, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as:virginia cemetery vandalism lawsuit8.01-44.6 gravestone damage civil actioncemetery company sue for monument damage virginiaheadstone vandalism recovery virginia lawva code cemetery property destruction damages