The protection of the architectural heritage is the basic responsibility of both the international institutions and of each state. In the context of promoting cultural heritage as an indispensable universal value for the existence of a society, it is the duty of every citizen and the whole country to protect cultural assets. Therefore, in the normative acts adopted both at national and international level, effective legal means must be regulated in order to protect the architectural heritage, as in the current period, criminal activities involving historical and cultural assets are widespread and represent quite dangerous behaviors. An essential role in the protection of the architectural heritage belongs to the criminal law which establishes the criminal liability for the facts that directly or indirectly affect the cultural values. This article aims to analyze the analysis of criminal legislation on liability for the destruction or deterioration of cultural heritage, national and international practice on the application of these rules in the field of use and protection of monuments of history and culture, trends and ways of developing legislation in this field. lastly, the problems of improving the criminal legislation on this subject.