Australian Teen Charged for Supposedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Sculpture
A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly vandalizing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated remotely at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of damaging property.
In a statement at the time of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage showed a individual putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the court she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
A day after the reported event, the city leader said that repairs to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the stickers could not be detached without harming the art piece.
“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
She added the council would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the vandalism.
At the time the sculpture was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and design.
Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.