Young Australian Charged for Supposedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after allegedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of damaging property.
Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the local council said that surveillance video captured a individual putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.
The accused did not enter a plea and informed the judge she was ill, according to media sources, with the judge advising her to find a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
The following day the reported event, the local mayor stated that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes could not be detached without harming the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable 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 society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
She said the council would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.
When the artwork was initially suggested, it drew varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
