🔗 Share this article

A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a sizable art piece of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, facing with one count of property damage.

In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council said that CCTV footage showed a individual placing fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the court she was ill, according to news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in December.

The following day the alleged incident, the city leader said that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be detached without damaging the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those people of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

She added the council would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.

At the time the artwork was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and design.

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