Australian Teen Charged for Supposedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, aged 19, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, charged with a single charge of damaging property.
In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council explained that surveillance video showed a individual placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.
Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and informed the court she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.
The following day the reported event, the city leader said that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers could not be detached without damaging the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”
The mayor added the local government would seek the “substantial” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage.
At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the local community due to its cost and design.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
