Australian Teen Charged for Supposedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Sculpture
A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, charged with one count of damaging property.
In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council explained that surveillance video captured a person placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused made no plea and told the court she was ill, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her next court date in December.
The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor said that repairs to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without damaging the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those people of our society who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
The mayor said the council would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.
When the artwork was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its price tag and appearance.
Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an ancient anteater-like marsupial found in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
