Australian Teen Charged for Allegedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing plastic eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, aged 19, participated via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with one count of damaging property.
In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage captured a individual putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the court she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the judge recommending her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
The following day the reported event, the city leader said that repairs 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 cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
She added the council would pursue the “substantial” restoration expenses from those accountable for the vandalism.
At the time the artwork was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and appearance.
Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
