Australian Teen Charged for Allegedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Sculpture

A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a mythical creature by applying plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, charged with one count of damaging property.

In a statement at the time of the recent event, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage showed a individual placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused made no plea and informed the judge she was ill, according to news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a lawyer before her next court date in the final month of the year.

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

“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in mid-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.”

The mayor said the council would seek the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.

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

Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.