It is a federal crime to remove or deface a pipeline marker sign.
Pipeline marker signs are important to public safety. They are so important, in fact, that Congress in 1988 passed a law making it a federal crime for any person to willfully deface, damage, remove, or destroy any pipeline sign right-of-way marker that is required by federal law. The penalty for each offense is a fine of up to $5,000 or imprisonment for not more than a year or both.