Young Australian Charged for Supposedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared remotely at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, charged with a single charge of damaging property.
In a statement at the moment of the recent event, the local council explained that surveillance video showed a individual putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused did not enter a plea and told the court she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the judge advising her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
A day after the reported event, the local mayor said that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes could not be detached without harming the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
She added the local government would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the damage.
When the sculpture was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the local community due to its price tag and appearance.
Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork represents a legendary giant animal, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
