A. Any person who willfully and maliciously sets fire to or burns or by the use of any explosive device or substance destroys in whole or in part, or causes to be burned or destroyed, or aids, counsels or procures the burning of any property whatsoever, including automobiles, trucks, trailers, motorcycles, boats, standing farm crops, pasture lands, forest lands, or any other property not herein specifically named, such property being worth not less than Fifty Dollars ($50.00), whether the property of himself or another, shall be guilty of arson in the third degree, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) or be confined in the State Penitentiary for not more than fifteen (15) years.

B. Any person who willfully and maliciously, and with intent to injure or defraud the insurer, sets fire to or burns or by use of any explosive device or substance destroys in whole or in part, or causes to be burned or destroyed, or aids, counsels, or procures the burning or destruction of any building, property, or other chattels, whether the property of himself or another, which shall at the time be insured against loss or damage by fire or explosion, shall be guilty of arson in the third degree, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) or be confined in the State Penitentiary for not more than fifteen (15) years or both.

C. Arson in the third degree is a felony.

Added by Laws 1967, c. 115, § 3, emerg. eff. April 25, 1967. Amended by Laws 1979, c. 165, § 3, emerg. eff. May 15, 1979; Laws 1997, c. 133, § 349, eff. July 1, 1999; Laws 1999, 1st Ex.Sess., c. 5, § 242, eff. July 1, 1999.

NOTE: Laws 1998, 1st Ex.Sess., c. 2, § 23 amended the effective date of Laws 1997, c. 133, § 349 from July 1, 1998, to July 1, 1999.