Australian Teen Charged for Supposedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Sculpture
A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, 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 municipal authorities said that surveillance video captured a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused did not enter a plea and informed the court she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate advising her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
A day after the alleged incident, the city leader stated that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers could not be detached without harming the art piece.
“This intentional vandalism to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in 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.”
She said the council would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.
At the time the artwork was initially suggested, it drew varied responses from the local community due to its cost and appearance.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork represents a legendary giant animal, with the creators inspired by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
