Australian Teen Charged for Allegedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Sculpture
A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, aged 19, appeared remotely at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, charged with a single charge of property damage.
Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage captured a individual putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.
The accused made no plea and told the court she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the judge advising her to secure a lawyer before her next court date in December.
A day after the alleged incident, the city leader said that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
She added the local government would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the damage.
When the sculpture was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.
Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
