Young Australian Faces Charges for Allegedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of property damage.
In a statement at the moment of the recent event, the local council said that CCTV footage captured a person putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused made no plea and told the court she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate recommending 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 popular community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be detached without damaging the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism 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 frustrating to those members of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
She added the council would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.
At the time the sculpture was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and appearance.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a legendary giant animal, with the creators influenced by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
