Australian Teen Faces Charges for Allegedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared remotely at the local court in South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of property damage.
In a statement at the moment of the recent event, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a individual placing fake eyes on the sculpture, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the judge she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the judge recommending her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.
The following day the reported event, the local mayor said that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be detached without harming the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
The mayor said the council would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.
When the sculpture was initially suggested, it drew varied responses from the local community due to its price tag and design.
Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
