No person must conceal, remove, alter, deface or obliterate, or suffer any person under his control to conceal, remove, alter, deface or obliterate any mark placed on any ship in accordance with the provisions of this Act, except with the authority of a person entitled under the load line regulations to authorize the alteration of the mark, or except for the purpose of escaping capture by an enemy or by a foreign ship in the exercise of some belligerent right.
