Australian Teen Charged for Allegedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated remotely at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, charged with one count of property damage.
In a statement at the time of the recent event, the municipal authorities said that surveillance video captured a person placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the judge she was ill, according to media sources, with the magistrate advising her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.
The following day the alleged incident, the city leader said that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without harming the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”
She said the local government would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the damage.
When the sculpture was initially suggested, it drew varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and design.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
