Young Australian Faces Charges for Allegedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after allegedly defacing a large art piece of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, charged with a single charge of property damage.
Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage captured a person placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.
The accused made no plea and told the judge she was ill, according to media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a lawyer before her next court date in December.
The following day the reported event, the city leader stated that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers could not be removed without harming the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our community who have embraced Cast in Blue.”
She added the council would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.
When the sculpture was first proposed, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and design.
Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a legendary giant animal, with the creators influenced by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
