Australian Teen Charged for Allegedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Artwork

A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared remotely at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, charged with one count of damaging property.

Officials commented at the moment of the recent event, the local council said that surveillance video captured a individual putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the judge she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the judge recommending her to find a lawyer before her next court date in December.

The following day the alleged incident, the city leader said that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

The mayor added the council would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.

At the time the artwork was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and appearance.

Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.