Young Australian Charged for Allegedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of property damage.
Officials commented at the moment of the recent event, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage captured a individual putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.
The accused made no plea and informed the judge she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
The following day the reported event, the local mayor said that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers could not be removed without harming the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those members of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
The mayor added the council would seek the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.
When the sculpture was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and design.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
