Young Australian Charged for Allegedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Artwork
A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing plastic eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, aged 19, participated via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of damaging property.
In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that surveillance video captured a individual placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused did not enter a plea and told the judge she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the judge advising her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in December.
A day after the reported event, the local mayor said that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be removed without harming the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
She added the local government would pursue the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage.
When the artwork was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and design.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the artwork represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
