🔗 Share this article

A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing plastic eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated remotely at the local court in South Australia on that day, facing with one count of property damage.

Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that surveillance video captured a individual putting fake eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the court she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to find a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in December.

The following day the reported event, the local mayor said that repairs to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the stickers could not be detached without harming the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”

The mayor said the council would pursue the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.

When the sculpture was first proposed, it received varied responses from the local community due to its cost and appearance.

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the artwork represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.