Australian Teen Faces Charges for Supposedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Sculpture
A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a large art piece 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, facing with one count of property damage.
Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage captured a individual putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the judge she was unwell, according to media sources, with the judge recommending her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.
The following day the alleged incident, the city leader stated that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be removed without harming the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a cherished community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
She added the council would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the damage.
When the sculpture was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and design.
Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
