(1) No person shall knowingly buy, sell, offer for sale, receive, or have in his possession, any titled motor vehicle or trailer or component part thereof, from which the original manufacturer's vehicle identification number, or serial number, has been removed, defaced, altered, obscured or destroyed, unless such vehicle or component part has attached thereto an identification number assigned or approved by the Department of Vehicle Regulation under the provisions of KRS 186.1911 or authorized agency of another state in lieu of the manufacturer's number.
(2) Whenever such vehicle or component part comes into the custody of a peace officer it shall be forfeited under the procedure established in KRS 500.090. Nothing in this section shall, however, preclude the return of such vehicle or parts to the lawful owner thereof following presentation of satisfactory evidence of ownership and assignment of an identification number by the Department of Vehicle Regulation.