🔗 Share this article Young Australian Faces Charges for Supposedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture The local council mentioned they could not take off the eyes without harming the artwork. A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a sizable art piece of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it. Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared remotely at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with one count of damaging property. In a statement at the time of the September incident, the local council said that CCTV footage captured a individual putting fake eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”. Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the judge she was unwell, according to media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to find a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year. The damaged sculpture following the stickers were taken off. A day after the reported event, the city leader said that repairs to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the stickers could not be detached without damaging the art piece. “This wilful damage to a cherished community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.” She said the council would pursue the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible 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. Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”. Cast in Blue is its official name but residents nicknamed the artwork the ‘Blue Blob’.