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

A young person from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, charged with a single charge of damaging property.

In a statement at the moment of the recent event, the municipal authorities said that surveillance video showed a individual putting fake eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused did not enter a plea and told the judge she was ill, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate advising her to find a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.

A day after the alleged incident, the city leader stated that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the adhesive eyes could not be removed without damaging the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

She said the local government would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.

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

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