Australian Teen Faces Charges for Allegedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Sculpture

A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a large art piece of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared remotely at the local court in South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of property damage.

Officials commented at the moment of the recent event, the municipal authorities explained that surveillance video showed a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused did not enter a plea and informed the judge she was ill, as reported by media sources, with the judge recommending her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.

A day after the reported event, the local mayor said that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without harming the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

She added the local government would seek the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the damage.

When the artwork was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the local community due to its price tag and appearance.

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