Australian Teen Faces Charges for Allegedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a sizable art piece of a mythical creature by applying plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, charged with a single charge of property damage.
In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council explained that CCTV footage captured a individual placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the judge she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the judge advising her to secure a lawyer before her next court date in the final month of the year.
The following day the alleged incident, the city leader said that repairs to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
She added the local government would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the damage.
When the sculpture was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and design.
Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
