Young Australian Faces Charges for Supposedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A young person from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a large art piece of a mythical creature by applying plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with one count of property damage.
In a statement at the time of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage showed a individual putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the judge she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the judge advising her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.
A day after the reported event, the local mayor stated that repairs to the much-loved public artwork would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our community who have embraced Cast in Blue.”
She added the council would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.
At the time the sculpture was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the local community due to its cost and design.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
