🔗 Share this article

A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a mythical creature by applying plastic eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared remotely at the local court in South Australia on that day, charged with a single charge of property damage.

In a statement at the time of the recent event, the local council said that surveillance video captured a person putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and informed the judge she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the judge recommending her to secure a lawyer before her next court date in December.

The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that repairs to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be detached without harming the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a valued community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in mid-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” repair costs from those accountable for the damage.

When the sculpture was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the local community due to its price tag and appearance.

Costing 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 marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.