Australian Teen Charged for Supposedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, charged with one count of property damage.
In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.
The accused did not enter a plea and told the court she was ill, according to news outlets, with the judge recommending her to find a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in December.
The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be detached without damaging the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
The mayor said the local government would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.
When the sculpture was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its cost and design.
Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a legendary giant animal, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
