"I'd prefer" isn't logic either so clearly we're in the realm of what we each find comfortable.

Well, as others have said, it was illegal. "I'd prefer" includes "I see no good reason to make this an exception to the law".

There is also a legal process to allow it to stay, so the law isn’t really an issue. It is more of a question what the people want

You're assuming that it's art. Maybe it's a critical piece of the machinery inside the earth, the one small probe that needs to be exposed to the atmosphere. I wouldn't want to break it and send the whole planet hurtling into the sun.