Money wiped from alleged vandals' bill over Bendigo artefact damage
Chrisna and Gerhardus Snyman are accused of damaging Bendigo cultural sites during a visit in May 2024. (ABC News: Sarah Lawrence)
In short:
A Melbourne couple is accused of damaging significant artefacts in a regional Victorian city by sprinkling them with vegetable oil.
Bendigo Magistrates' Court heard on Monday the alleged damage bill has been reduced by about $60,000 due to some items being counted twice.
What's next?
The case has been adjourned to return to court in November.
About $60,000 has been wiped off the damage bill allegedly caused by a couple who maintain they were "blessing" cultural and historical artefacts in a central Victorian city.
Gerhardus and Chrisna Snyman, from Seabrook, are facing charges of criminal damage to items of significance during a visit to Bendigo in May 2024, including a century-old Chinese parade dragon.
The Bendigo Magistrates' Court heard on Monday some items at the Golden Dragon Museum had been mistakenly quoted twice in the alleged damage bill, which had since been corrected by police.
Statues outside the Golden Dragon Museum in Bendigo were allegedly damaged by the couple. (Supplied: Magistrates Court of Victoria)
The couple had originally been charged over damage to the museum valued at $118,000.
Further damage was allegedly caused to items at other sites including the Bendigo Town Hall, The Great Stupa monument, a military museum, cathedral and cemetery.
The court also heard on Monday there was a dispute over whether the couple intended to cause damage to the items, which included statues, military plaques and a Jewish monument.
The court previously heard police alleged the pair appeared to avoid being seen by others while CCTV showed them sprinkling oil on the monuments.
Mr Snyman's lawyer Marko Habib told the court only minimal amounts of oil were deposited in a "religious act", and the couple believed it could be wiped off or would wash off in the weather.
There was alleged damage to plaques at the Bendigo Town Hall. (Supplied: Magistrates Court of Victoria)
"On each occasion it would be quite straightforward had somebody wished to deposit far greater oil on far more surface area of the items," Mr Habib said.
As an example, he said oil was sprinkled on the feet of lion statues outside the Golden Dragon Museum, rather than on their faces.
Ms Snyman's lawyer James Portelli said the couple had blessed items in their own home the same way and it was a "very unusual case".
"What happened here is clearly regrettable," he said.
"There's nothing the prosecution can point to that my client was intentional or reckless."
Prosecutor Peter Pickering told the court the couple put the oil on the items, "knowing it would have to be cleaned off at a later stage".
He said there was enough evidence the couple's act was deliberate.
Magistrate Jarrod Williams said it was "not a straightforward case" and adjourned the matter to November.