He erected the golf ball and life-sized human mannequin to make his business more visible to traffic on Hepburn Road.

But council has received complaints about the structure, which Mr Krunic had not submitted a permit for.

Mr Krunic said he received a letter from council on Saturday January 10, giving him 28 days to pull it down.

Then, at 4am on Sunday, January 11, vandals were caught on security camera approaching the golf ball in their vehicle.

The vandals tied a ligature over the head of the mannequin and pulled it down with their vehicle.

Mr Krunic said the lack of support by the council, coupled with the actions of the vandals, had delivered a double blow to his mini-golfing business in what was supposed to be his business season.

He said a small amount of people, dedicated to "whinging", did not represent the majority of the community.

"So far everyone I've spoken to has said `thank God someone has opened a family activity here'," he said.

"People were passing by and smiling."

Mr Krunic has now submitted a a permit for the structure.

He said, as well as providing a tourist attraction for the town, the big golf ball helped to slow the traffic on the stretch of road, where speeding was a problem.

He opened the mini-golf course six months ago.

A council spokesperson said the planning application would be assessed against the decision guidelines of the Hepburn Planning Scheme, "including advertising requirements in the Residential 1 Zone and the Design and Development Overlay."