A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, facing with one count 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 sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the court she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the judge recommending her to find a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in December.
The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor said that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be detached without damaging the art piece.
“This intentional vandalism to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those people of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
The mayor said the council would pursue the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.
When the sculpture was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the local community due to its cost and appearance.
Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a legendary giant animal, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
