70-16-107. Trespass for taking timber. A person who cuts down or carries off any wood, underwood, tree, or timber or girdles or otherwise injures any tree or timber on the land of another person, on the street or highway in front of any person's house or town or city lot, on cultivated grounds or on the commons or public grounds of any city or town, or on the street or highway of any city or town, without lawful authority, is liable to the owner of the land or to the city or town for:

(1) the amount of the damages incurred if the trespass was casual and inadvertent or committed under the belief that the land belonged to the trespasser or if the wood was taken by the authority of state or local government officers or employees for the purposes of a highway; or

(2) treble the amount of damages incurred if the trespass was willful, wanton, or malicious.