Australian Teen Faces Charges for Supposedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Sculpture
A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated remotely at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, charged with one count of property damage.
In a statement at the moment of the recent event, the local council said that CCTV footage captured a person placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the court she was unwell, according to media sources, with the magistrate advising her to secure a lawyer before her next court date in the final month of the year.
A day after the reported event, the city leader said that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be detached without damaging the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those people of our society who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
The mayor said the local government would pursue the “substantial” restoration expenses from those accountable for the vandalism.
At the time the sculpture was initially suggested, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and design.
Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
