Young Australian Charged for Allegedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Artwork

A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a sizable art piece of a mythical creature by applying googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of property damage.

Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that surveillance video captured a person placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused made no plea and informed the court she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to secure a lawyer before her next court date in December.

A day after the alleged incident, the city leader stated that repairs to the popular public artwork would be costly as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without harming the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

The mayor said the council would seek the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the damage.

At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.