Australian Teen Charged for Supposedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated via phone at the local court in South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of property damage.
Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a individual placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.
The accused made no plea and told the court she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.
The following day the alleged incident, the city leader stated that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”
She added the council would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.
At the time the artwork was first proposed, it drew varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
