🔗 Share this article Young Australian Charged for Allegedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork Authorities mentioned they were unable to remove the eyes without damaging the artwork. A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it. Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of damaging property. In a statement at the time of the September incident, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a person placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”. Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the judge she was ill, according to media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a lawyer before her next court date in the final month of the year. The affected sculpture after the googly eyes were removed. A day after the reported event, the city leader stated that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes could not be removed without harming the sculpture. “This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.” The mayor added the local government would pursue the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage. When the artwork was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and design. Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”. Cast in Blue is its formal title but locals called the artwork the ‘Blue Blob’.