Young Australian Charged for Supposedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a mythical creature by applying plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated via phone at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of property damage.
Officials commented at the moment of the recent event, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage captured a person placing fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and informed the judge she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the judge recommending her to find a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.
The following day the reported event, the city leader said that repairs to the popular public artwork would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be detached without harming the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
She added the local government would seek the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the damage.
At the time the artwork was first proposed, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and design.
Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
