Man charged after Chicago's '~Bean' sculpture is vandalized

CHICAGO (AP) - A young man has been charged for allegedly vandalizing a popular Chicago sculpture known as 'œThe Bean" by spray-painting it with graffiti last week, police said.

The 18-year-old man was arrested and charged with criminal damage to public property under $500 and battery, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Chicago police said the man was spraying graffiti onto the reflective stainless-steel sculpture at Millennium Park on Friday evening when a 20-year-old man confronted him.

The suspect ran from the scene but the man followed him before the suspect allegedly kicked the 20-year-old, police said.

It's not the first time the sculpture has been vandalized. Two men were charged with felony charges in July 2019 after a group of people also defaced it with spray paint.

The bean-shaped sculpture by artist Anish Kapoor is formally known as 'œCloud Gate'ť and weighs 110 tons (99.8 metric tons). It's a popular tourist destination near Michigan Avenue.