Australian Teen Faces Charges for Supposedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a large art piece of a mythical creature by affixing plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated via phone at the local court in South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of damaging property.
Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the local council explained that surveillance video showed a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused made no plea and informed the judge she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her next court date in the final month of the year.
The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that restoration to the popular public artwork would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be detached without damaging the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
The mayor added the council would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage.
When the artwork was first proposed, it drew varied responses from the area residents due to its price tag and appearance.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
