Young Australian Faces Charges for Supposedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a mythical creature by applying googly eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, aged 19, appeared remotely at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, charged with a single charge of damaging property.
Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a individual putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.
Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the court she was ill, according to news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.
The following day the reported event, the local mayor said that repairs to the much-loved public artwork would be costly as the adhesive eyes could not be detached without harming 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 harmless fun, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
She said the council would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.
At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it received varied responses from the local community due to its price tag and design.
Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.