Australian Teen Faces Charges for Supposedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a large art piece of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of damaging property.
In a statement at the moment of the recent event, the local council said that surveillance video captured a person placing fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused did not enter a plea and told the court she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to find a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.
The following day the alleged incident, the city leader stated that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without harming the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
The mayor said the council would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.
When the sculpture was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and design.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a legendary giant animal, with the creators inspired by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
