Australian Teen Charged for Supposedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture

A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after allegedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a mythical creature by applying googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of damaging property.

In a statement at the moment of the recent event, the local council said that CCTV footage captured a person putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the judge she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the judge advising her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in December.

The following day the reported event, the city leader said that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes could not be removed without damaging the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

She added the council would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.

When the artwork was initially suggested, it drew varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and design.

Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.