Australian Teen Faces Charges for Supposedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork

A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, aged 19, participated via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, charged with one count of damaging property.

Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the local council explained that surveillance video captured a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and informed the judge she was unwell, according to media sources, with the magistrate advising her to find a lawyer before her next court date in the final month of the year.

The following day the alleged incident, the city leader said that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes could not be detached without damaging the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

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

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

Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.