18-year-old charged with vandalizing Bean in Millennium Park

Tourists flock to the Bean in Millennium Park Saturday, a day after someone vandalized the inside of the public artwork, according to police. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

A teen has been charged with vandalizing Chicago’s iconic Bean in Millennium Park, Chicago police said.

Diego Corona, 18, was spraying graffiti onto the Bean, formally known as “Cloud Gate,” around 6:10 p.m. Friday in the 200 block of East Randolph Street when another man, 20, confronted him, according to police.

Corona took off and the man followed him to the 100 block of North State Street, where Corona kicked the 20-year-old, police said. He was arrested shortly afterward and charged with criminal damage to public property under $500 and battery.

It’s not the first time the Bean has been tagged since 2004. Two men were hit with felony charges in 2019 after a group of people defaced it with white spray paint.

Graffiti lines the inside of the Bean on Saturday.