Young Australian Charged for Allegedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture

A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a large art piece of a mythical creature by affixing plastic eyes to it.

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

In a statement at the time of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage captured a individual placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused made no plea and told the judge she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the judge advising her to find a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.

The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor said that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be removed without harming the sculpture.

“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

The mayor added the local government would seek the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible 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 sculpture depicts a legendary giant animal, with the creators influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.