Young Australian Faces Charges for Supposedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a large art piece of a mythical creature by affixing plastic eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, aged 19, participated via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of damaging property.
In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that surveillance video showed a person placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused did not enter a plea and told the court she was ill, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate advising her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in December.
The following day the alleged incident, the city leader said that repairs to the popular public artwork 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 mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those people of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
She added the council would pursue the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the vandalism.
At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and appearance.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
