Young Australian Charged for Supposedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork

A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared remotely at the local court in South Australia on that day, charged with a single charge of property damage.

Officials commented at the time of the recent event, the municipal authorities said that surveillance video captured a person placing fake eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the court she was unwell, according to media sources, with the magistrate advising her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.

The following day the alleged incident, the city leader stated that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers could not be detached without damaging the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in 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 added the local government would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.

When the artwork was initially suggested, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and design.

Costing A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.