Young Australian Charged for Allegedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Sculpture
A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly vandalizing a large art piece of a mythical creature by applying plastic eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 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 CCTV footage captured a person putting fake 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 find a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
The following day the alleged incident, the city leader stated that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be detached without damaging the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
The mayor added the council would seek the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.
When the sculpture was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its cost and design.
Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
