Australian Teen Charged for Supposedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork

A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of property damage.

In a statement at the time of the recent event, the local council said that CCTV footage showed a individual placing fake eyes on the artwork, which residents have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the court she was ill, as reported by media sources, with the judge advising her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.

A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that restoration to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the stickers could not be removed without damaging the sculpture.

“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our community who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

The mayor said the local government would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.

When the artwork was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and appearance.

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the sculpture represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.