🔗 Share this article

A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, aged 19, participated via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with a single charge of property damage.

In a statement at the moment of the recent event, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage captured a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the court she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in December.

The following day the reported event, the city leader said that repairs to the popular public artwork would be costly as the adhesive eyes could not be detached without damaging the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

The mayor said the council would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.

At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and design.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.