Young Australian Charged for Supposedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with a single charge of property damage.
Officials commented at the time of the recent event, the local council said that CCTV footage showed a person placing fake eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the judge she was ill, according to news outlets, with the judge recommending her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in December.
The following day the alleged incident, the city leader stated that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without harming the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have embraced Cast in Blue.”
She added the council would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.
When the artwork was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the local community due to its cost and design.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
