Young Australian Faces Charges for Allegedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Sculpture
A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly defacing a large art piece of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared via phone 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 September incident, the local council explained that surveillance video showed a person putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.
Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and informed the court she was ill, according to news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her next court date in the final month of the year.
The following day the alleged incident, the city leader stated that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those members of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
She added the local government would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.
When the artwork was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a legendary giant animal, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
