Young Australian Faces Charges for Allegedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A young person from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a large art piece of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated remotely at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, charged with a single charge of damaging property.
Officials commented at the moment of the recent event, the local council explained that surveillance video captured a person putting fake 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 recommending her to find a lawyer before her next court date in December.
The following day the reported event, the local mayor said that restoration to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be detached without harming the art piece.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
She added the local government would seek the “significant” restoration expenses 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 appearance.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
