Australian Teen Charged for Supposedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Sculpture
A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, facing with one count of property damage.
Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the local council said that CCTV footage captured a individual putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.
The accused made no plea and informed the judge she was unwell, according to media sources, with the magistrate advising her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.
A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that repairs to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the stickers could not be detached without damaging the art piece.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
The mayor said the council would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those accountable for the damage.
When the artwork was first proposed, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
