Australian Teen Faces Charges for Supposedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of property damage.
Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage showed a individual placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the judge she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in December.
The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor said that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be detached without harming the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those people of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
The mayor said the council would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage.
At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the local community due to its cost and design.
Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
