Australian Teen Faces Charges for Allegedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Sculpture

A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by applying googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated remotely at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, charged with one count of damaging property.

In a statement at the time of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that surveillance video showed a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the judge she was ill, according to media sources, with the judge recommending her to find a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.

The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor said that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without harming the sculpture.

“This wilful damage to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

The mayor added the council would pursue the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the damage.

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

Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; £68,000), the sculpture represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.