Young Australian Faces Charges for Allegedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture

A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly vandalizing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated remotely at the local court in South Australia on that day, facing with one count of damaging property.

In a statement at the time of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that surveillance video showed a person placing fake eyes on the artwork, which locals have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.

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 lawyer before her next court date in December.

A day after the reported event, the local mayor said that repairs to the much-loved public artwork would be costly as the stickers could not be removed without harming the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

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

At the time the artwork was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and appearance.

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a legendary giant animal, with the creators influenced by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.