🔗 Share this article Australian Teen Faces Charges for Allegedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork Authorities stated they could not take off the eyes without harming the artwork. A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after allegedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it. Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with one count of damaging property. In a statement at the time of the September incident, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a person putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”. The accused did not enter a plea and informed the judge she was ill, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate advising her to find a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year. The affected sculpture after the googly eyes were taken off. A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that repairs to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes could not be removed without harming the art piece. “This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.” She added the local government would seek the “substantial” restoration expenses from those accountable for the vandalism. When the artwork was first proposed, it received varied responses from the local community due to its price tag and design. Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”. Cast in Blue is its formal title but residents nicknamed the artwork the ‘Blue Blob’.