Young Australian Charged for Allegedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture

A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a sizable art piece of a mythical creature by applying plastic eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of damaging property.

In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council said that CCTV footage showed a person putting fake eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused made no plea and told the judge she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.

The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor said that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without harming the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked 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.”

The mayor added the council would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the damage.

At the time the sculpture was initially suggested, it drew varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.