Young Australian Charged for Allegedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a large art piece of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, charged with one count of damaging property.
Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that surveillance video captured a individual placing fake eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the court she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate advising her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.
A day after the alleged incident, the city leader stated that restoration to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be removed without harming the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those people of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
The mayor added the council would seek the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.
When the artwork was first proposed, it drew varied responses from the local community due to its cost and design.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the artwork represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
