Young Australian Charged for Allegedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a large art piece of a mythical creature by applying googly eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of damaging property.
In a statement at the time of the September incident, the local council explained that surveillance video captured a person putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.
The accused did not enter a plea and told the judge she was ill, according to news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to find a legal representative before her upcoming hearing 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 detached without damaging the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
The mayor said the council would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the vandalism.
At the time the artwork 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; £68,000), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
