🔗 Share this article Australian Teen Faces Charges for Supposedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Artwork Authorities stated they could not take off the eyes without harming the artwork. A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it. The 19-year-old, aged 19, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, facing with one count of property damage. Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the local council said that CCTV footage captured a individual placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Blue Blob”. Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the court she was ill, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year. The damaged sculpture following the googly eyes were taken off. A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be removed without harming the art piece. “This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those people of our community who have embraced Cast in Blue.” She added the council would seek the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism. At the time the artwork was initially suggested, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its cost and design. Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; £68,000), 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 “massive, lumbering and fascinating”. Cast in Blue is its formal title but locals nicknamed the piece the ‘Blue Blob’.