🔗 Share this article

A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared remotely at the local court in South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of damaging property.

Officials commented at the moment of the recent event, the local council said that CCTV footage captured a person putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the court she was ill, according to news outlets, with the judge recommending her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.

The following day the reported event, the local mayor said that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork 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 people of our community who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

She said the local government would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.

When the artwork was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the local community due to its cost and appearance.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.