Australian Teen Faces Charges for Supposedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after allegedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates 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 local council explained that surveillance video showed a individual placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.
The accused made no plea and informed the judge she was ill, according to news outlets, with the judge advising her to find a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
A day after the alleged incident, the city leader said that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be removed without harming the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
She added the council would pursue the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.
When the artwork was first proposed, it received varied responses from the local community due to its price tag and design.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
