SECTION 5. Commonwealth boundary markers; removing or defacing; penalty

No person shall wilfully or maliciously disturb or injure, or, except as herein provided, remove, obliterate, deface or cover up any monument or mark designating the boundary line of the commonwealth. Any person desirous of removing and replacing any such monument or mark may apply in writing to the department, who may grant permission therefor under its supervision, first making provision for preserving the exact location of the original boundary or mark, and also giving notice to the adjoining state of the time and place at which proposed action is to be taken. The monument shall be reset in the identical location from which it was removed, or at a convenient distance therefrom upon the boundary line. A full description of any change in such monument or mark shall be recorded in the offices of the clerks of the contiguous towns, and a copy thereof shall be forwarded to the state secretary. Violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than fifty dollars or by imprisonment for not more than six months.