Young Australian Faces Charges for Supposedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork

A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a large art piece of a mythical creature by applying googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated remotely at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with one count of property damage.

In a statement at the time of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage captured a person putting fake eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and informed the court she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the judge advising her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.

The following day the reported event, the local mayor said that repairs to the much-loved public artwork would be costly as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.

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

The mayor added the council would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the vandalism.

When the artwork was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the local community due to its cost and appearance.

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.