Young Australian Faces Charges for Allegedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture

A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared remotely at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of damaging property.

In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a individual putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused made no plea and told the judge she was ill, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate advising her to find a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in December.

A day after the reported event, the local mayor stated that restoration to the popular public artwork 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 September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”

The mayor added the council would pursue the “substantial” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage.

At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it received varied responses from the local community due to its price tag and appearance.

Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.