🔗 Share this article Young Australian Faces Charges for Supposedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork The local council stated they could not remove the eyes without harming the artwork. A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after reportedly vandalizing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it. The 19-year-old, aged 19, appeared via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with one count of property damage. In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council said that CCTV footage captured a individual putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”. Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and informed the judge she was ill, according to news outlets, with the judge recommending her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December. The affected sculpture following the googly eyes were removed. A day after the reported event, the city leader said that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without harming the sculpture. “This wilful damage to a cherished community art is inappropriate 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 society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.” She added the council would pursue the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage. At the time the artwork was first proposed, it drew varied responses from the local community due to its cost and appearance. Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture represents a legendary giant animal, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”. The sculpture is its official name but residents nicknamed the artwork the ‘Blue Blob’.