🔗 Share this article

A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after allegedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with one count of property damage.

In a statement at the time of the recent event, the municipal authorities explained that surveillance video captured a person putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

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

A day after the reported event, the city leader stated that repairs to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be removed without harming the sculpture.

“This wilful damage to a valued community art is inappropriate 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 people of our community who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

The mayor added the local government would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.

At the time the artwork was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and appearance.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.