Australian Teen Faces Charges for Allegedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture

A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly defacing a large art piece of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared remotely at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of property damage.

In a statement at the moment of the recent event, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a individual placing fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused did not enter a plea and informed the judge she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her next court date in the final month of the year.

A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that repairs to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

She added the council would seek the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.

When the sculpture was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and appearance.

Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a legendary giant animal, with the creators influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.