Australian Teen Charged for Supposedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Sculpture
A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after reportedly vandalizing a sizable art piece of a mythical creature by applying plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared remotely at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of property damage.
In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a individual putting fake eyes on the artwork, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused did not enter a plea and told the court she was ill, according to news outlets, with the judge advising her to find a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
The following day the reported event, the local mayor stated that repairs to the much-loved public artwork would be costly as the adhesive eyes could not be detached without harming the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a valued community art is inappropriate 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 members of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
She said the council would seek the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the damage.
When the sculpture was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and design.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
