Young Australian Charged for Supposedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Sculpture

A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a large art piece of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.

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

In a statement at the time of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage captured a person placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the court she was ill, according to media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to find a legal representative before her next court date in December.

A day after the reported event, the local mayor stated that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without damaging the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

She said the local government would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the damage.

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

Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.