Young Australian Faces Charges for Allegedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared remotely at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with one count of property damage.
In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage captured a individual placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused did not enter a plea and told the court she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the judge recommending her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
A day after the alleged incident, the city leader stated that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be removed without damaging the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
The mayor added the local government would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.
When the sculpture was first proposed, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and design.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
