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

A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing plastic eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated remotely at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of damaging property.

In a statement at the time of the recent event, the local council said that surveillance video showed a person placing fake eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the judge she was ill, according to media sources, with the judge recommending her to find a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.

A day after the alleged incident, the city leader stated that repairs to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes could not be removed without damaging the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

The mayor said the council would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the vandalism.

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

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.