Young Australian Faces Charges for Supposedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a mythical creature by applying plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared remotely at the local court in South Australia on that day, facing with one count of damaging property.
In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage captured a person placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the court she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor said that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without damaging the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
She said the council would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the vandalism.
At the time the artwork was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the local community due to its cost and design.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an ancient anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
