attribute on virtual property not showing via reflection

I have an EntityFramework model with attributes, which I use to validate the fields.

private person tipProvider;
[Required]
[ForeignKey("TipProviderId")]
public virtual person TipProvider
{
    get { return tipProvider; }
    set
    {
        tipProvider = value;
        ValidateProperty(MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod().Name.Replace("set_", ""));
        raisePropertyChanged(MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod().Name.Replace("set_", ""));
    }
}

I get the PropertyInfo and then its validation attributes, which I use to validate the property:

public virtual void ValidateProperty(string property)
{
    errors[property].Clear();
    var propertyInfo = this.GetType().GetProperty(property);
    var propertyValue = propertyInfo.GetValue(this);
    var validationAttributes = propertyInfo.GetCustomAttributes(true).OfType<ValidationAttribute>();
    foreach (var validationAttribute in validationAttributes)
    {
        if (!validationAttribute.IsValid(propertyValue))
        {
            errors[property].Add(validationAttribute.FormatErrorMessage(string.Empty));
        }
    }
    raiseErrorsChanged(property);
}

When the property is virtual, I cannot find the attributes via reflection. If the virtual keyword is removed, the attributes are found.

I'm really confused by this behavior. Why can't attributes be applied on virtual properties?