Australian Teen Faces Charges for Supposedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture

A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a large art piece of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared via phone 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 moment of the recent event, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage captured a person placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused did not enter a plea and informed the court she was unwell, according to media sources, with the judge advising her to secure a lawyer before her next court date in December.

The following day the reported event, the city leader said that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be removed without damaging the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

She said the council would seek the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.

At the time the artwork was first proposed, it received varied responses from the local community due to its cost and design.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.