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

A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a mythical creature by applying plastic eyes to it.

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

In a statement at the time of the recent event, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage showed a person placing fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused did not enter a plea and informed the court she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to find a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.

A day after the alleged incident, the city leader said that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

She said the local government would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.

When the sculpture was first proposed, it received varied responses from the local community due to its cost and design.

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.