Australian Teen Charged for Allegedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Sculpture

A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after allegedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with one count of property damage.

In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage showed a individual putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused did not enter a plea and informed the court she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate advising her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.

The following day the reported event, the local mayor stated that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers could not be removed without harming the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

She said the council would pursue the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.

When the artwork was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.