Whenever an owner's certificate of title is lost or destroyed, the owner or his personal representative may petition the court for the issuance of a new certificate. Notice of such petition shall be published once a week for four successive weeks, under the direction of the court, in some convenient newspaper, and noted upon the registry of titles, and upon satisfactory proof having been exhibited before it that the certificate has been lost or destroyed the court may direct the issuance of a new certificate, which shall be appropriately designated and take the place of the original, but at least 30 full days shall elapse between the filing of the petition and making the decree for such new certificate.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 43-17