🔗 Share this article Young Australian Faces Charges for Allegedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture Authorities mentioned they could not remove the eyes without damaging the artwork. A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after reportedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it. Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated via phone at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, charged with a single charge of damaging property. In a statement at the time of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage showed a individual placing fake eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”. The accused did not enter a plea and told the court she was ill, according to media sources, with the judge recommending her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December. The damaged sculpture after the stickers were taken off. A day after the alleged incident, the city leader stated that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be costly as the stickers could not be detached without harming the art piece. “This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.” The mayor said the local government would seek the “substantial” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage. When the sculpture was first proposed, it received varied responses from the local community due to its cost and appearance. Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”. Cast in Blue is its formal title but locals nicknamed the piece the ‘Blue Blob’.