🔗 Share this article Young Australian Faces Charges for Allegedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Artwork Authorities mentioned they were unable to remove the eyes without harming the artwork. A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it. The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, charged with one count of damaging property. Officials commented at the time of the recent event, the local council explained that surveillance video showed a individual putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”. Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the judge she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the judge recommending her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year. The damaged sculpture after the stickers were removed. A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without harming the sculpture. “This wilful damage to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those people of our society who have welcomed Cast in Blue.” The mayor added the council would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the damage. When the artwork was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and design. Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”. The sculpture is its formal title but residents called the artwork the ‘Blue Blob’.