Australian Teen Charged for Supposedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Sculpture
A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing plastic eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, charged with a single charge of damaging property.
Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the local council explained that surveillance video captured a person placing 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 media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a lawyer before her next court date in the final month of the year.
The following day the alleged incident, the city leader stated that repairs to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the stickers could not be removed without damaging the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
She said the council would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the vandalism.
When the artwork was initially suggested, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and appearance.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a legendary giant animal, with the creators influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.