Young Australian Charged for Supposedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Artwork
A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, charged with a single charge of property damage.
Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the local council said that surveillance video captured a individual putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused made no plea and informed the judge she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the judge recommending her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in December.
A day after the reported event, the city leader stated that repairs to the popular public artwork would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.
“This intentional vandalism to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
She said the council would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.
At the time the sculpture was initially suggested, 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 mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.