If any person shall unlawfully enter on, and intrude upon or hold land belonging to the state, or take possession of or hold any personal property belonging to the state, such person may be proceeded against by action to be instituted by the district attorney of the district, or by the escheator of the county in a proper case. On the trial of the issue, the court or jury shall assess damages for rents and profits, and for injury done to the property by the despoilment of the timber or otherwise. If the trespass complained of be the cutting, belting, girdling, boxing, or otherwise injuring the timber, triple damages shall be recovered.Codes, 1857, ch. 17, art. 13; 1880, § 893; 1892, § 4251; 1906, § 4803; Hemingway's 1917, § 3167; 1930, § 6000; 1942, § 4390.
Mississippi Legal Code