7 Charged In Vandalism Of The Bean
By WBEZ staff7 Charged In Vandalism Of The Bean
By WBEZ staffChicago Police have charged seven people in connection with the vandalizing of The Bean sculpture in Millennium Park and a memorial wall in Maggie Daley Park.
Two men face felony property damage charges for allegedly spray painting The Bean, the popular stainless steel artwork officially known as Cloud Gate. Four others were charged with criminal trespass to state land. A 17-year-old faces curfew violations.
The Bean was vandalized late Monday and the suspects were arrested a short time later, police said. The sculpture’s stainless-steel reflective surface was marked in silver lettering near the bottom along with other markings. Workers removed the graffiti the next morning.
Memorial walls in the Cancer Survivors’ Garden in nearby Maggie Daley Park also were vandalized.
Police announced the charges in a news release that came out early Thursday. The release said Millennium Park security identified the group as those responsible for defacing park property.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot expressed outrage after the vandalism.
“Look, there are some things that should be sacred. Millennium Park and the Bean have been an important, iconic part of who we are as Chicago from the time that that park opened,” she said. “It is unbelievably unacceptable for people to be defacing something like that.”
Lightfoot said graffiti and gang markings “spread fear in the hearts of people” and shouldn’t be tolerated.