Australian Teen Charged for Allegedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared remotely at the local court in South Australia on that day, charged with one count of property damage.
In a statement at the time of the recent event, the municipal authorities explained that surveillance video captured a individual putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the judge she was ill, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.
The following day the reported event, the city leader said 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 intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
The mayor said the council would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.
At the time the sculpture was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the local community due to its cost and appearance.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($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 nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
