WAGGA man Benjamin Gow has been hit with almost $4300 in penalties for damaging the iconic Dog on the Tuckerbox monument after he climbed it for a photo.
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Gow, 28, appeared in Wagga Local Court today where he was convicted of destroying or damaging property, to which he pleaded guilty.
The Estella resident pleaded guilty and was convicted of the charge of entering upon any part of a fountain erected in a public place.
He was ordered to compensate Cootamundra-Gundagai Council $3392 for the repairs and fined $900 for the two offences.
Court documents state that on July 27, Gow and a woman were travelling south on the Hume Highway to Wagga when they took a break at the tuckerbox rest area.
That was when Gow climbed the monument for a photo. When he climbed back down, he knocked the dog and the tuckerbox off their perch.
He later told police it was "a stupid mistake".
In court today, Gow sat with his arms crossed while listening to Magistrate Imad Abdul-Karim's remarks.
Mr Abdul-Karim said Gow damaged the property "not through deliberate action, but through being legally negligent and reckless".
"It is that basis that I find that his moral culpability is reduced," Imad Abdul-Karim said.
He said the court considered the monument's historical and cultural significance.
In addition to the financial penalties, Gow was sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order.
Gow declined to answer questions outside the court house after sentencing.
