Will someone please tell me what markers are and how do tell them from trot lines?

I saw a discussion here earlier about people taking markers. I've never picked anything up, but I'm a newbie boat fisherman. I've banked it for 45 years, but....

I wonder if people don't know what they are, are they stealing or just uneducated?

The trot line part is just curiosity. We fish Lewisville up north and Lavon.

Trot line is basically a lazy way of catfishing where you put a bunch of baited hooks on a line and tie it to a tree. Markers are a weighted plastic marker that goes strait down. We use them to give us a target to throw at where you have found structure or drop off.

Ummm I wouldn't call trotline fishing lazy.You must not have done that method.