Young Australian Charged for Supposedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Artwork
A young person from Australia has appeared in court after allegedly vandalizing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, aged 19, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, charged with a single charge of property damage.
In a statement at the time of the September incident, the local council said that CCTV footage captured a person placing fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the judge she was unwell, 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.
A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be detached without harming the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a cherished community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have embraced Cast in Blue.”
She said the council would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.
At the time the sculpture was initially suggested, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its cost and design.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork depicts a legendary giant animal, with the creators influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
