Young Australian Charged for Supposedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Sculpture
A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after reportedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated remotely at the local court in South Australia on that day, charged with one count of property damage.
In a statement at the time of the recent event, the municipal authorities explained that surveillance video showed a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the judge she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the judge advising her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.
The following day the reported event, the local mayor said that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes could not be removed without damaging the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those people of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”
She added the council would seek the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.
When the sculpture was initially suggested, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and design.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.