Last month, googly eyes appeared on pieces of public art throughout Bend, Ore. Drivers would rubberneck, befuddled and amused by statues of deer and other sculptures that had been given an irreverent, cross-eyed gaze.

The eyes became a sensation, except among frustrated city officials, who paid for their removal.

The identity of the person behind the pranks, who became known as the Googly Eye Bandit, was unknown. That is until Jeff Keith came forward to claim responsibility.

Mr. Keith, 53, who runs the Guardian Group, a nonprofit focused on disrupting sex trafficking in the United States, said that in mid-December he sneaked into the middle of a roundabout and put the googly eyes on some public art.

“Big Ears” by Joe Halko, a sculpture depicting a family of deer, became googly-eyed — including the little fawn between its mother’s legs.

“If Bambi’s mom had had those eyes, maybe she’d have seen that hunter coming,” Stephen Colbert joked on an episode of “The Late Show.”