Australian Teen Charged for Allegedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, aged 19, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, facing with one count of damaging property.
In a statement at the time of the September incident, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a individual placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and informed the judge she was ill, according to news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to secure a lawyer before her next court date in December.
A day after the reported event, the city leader stated that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be detached without harming the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a cherished community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
The mayor added the local government would seek the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.
At the time the artwork was first proposed, it drew varied responses from the local community due to its cost and appearance.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
