Young Australian Faces Charges for Supposedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A young person from Australia has appeared in court after allegedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, aged 19, participated via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of damaging property.
Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the local council explained that surveillance video captured a individual 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, as reported by news outlets, with the judge recommending her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.
The following day the alleged incident, the city leader stated that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without damaging the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a cherished community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our society who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
The mayor said the local government would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.
When the sculpture was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
