Young Australian Charged for Allegedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, charged with one count of damaging property.
In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that surveillance video showed a individual placing fake eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the court she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to secure a lawyer before her next court date in the final month of the year.
A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers could not be detached without damaging the art piece.
“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our society who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
The mayor added the local government would seek the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the damage.
When the artwork was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and design.
Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
