Fact or Fiction? It’s Illegal To Own A Tombstone In Minnesota

We've entered into the month of October, but it feels like July. Many people took advantage of the warm weather to start decorating for Halloween, I saw ghosts swinging from tree branches, pumpkins set out on steps, fake graveyards set up in lawns, and giant skeletons set up outside homes. After seeing all those decorations this weekend it made sense that I saw a question pop up in a Halloween group about having real tombstones set up in a fake graveyard. Would it be legal to do in Minnesota?

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I took to Google and found some laws on the books in regard to cemeteries here in Minnesota. There is a part that addresses taking/stealing tombstones/headstones which is illegal, but there isn't anything that says you couldn't buy your own from a monument company, and set it up for Halloween.

Minnesota Statute 307.08 reads:

A person who, without the consent of the appropriate authority and the landowner, intentionally, willfully, and knowingly does any of the following is guilty of a gross misdemeanor:

(1) removes any tombstone, monument, or structure placed in any public or private cemetery or authenticated human burial ground; or

(2) removes any fence, railing, or other work erected for protection or ornament, or any tree, shrub, or plant or grave goods and artifacts within the limits of a public or private cemetery or authenticated human burial ground; or

(3) discharges any firearms upon or over the grounds of any public or private cemetery or authenticated burial ground.

Now I did see a sad news story not too long ago where many tombstones were found along a river in D.C., and those were supposed to be reunited with any family members still around.