Australian Teen Charged for Supposedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing plastic eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of damaging property.
Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage showed a individual putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the judge she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate advising her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in December.
A day after the reported event, the city leader said that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be removed without harming the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our society who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
She said the local government would pursue the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.
At the time the artwork was first proposed, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and design.
Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
