A young person from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, aged 19, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of property damage.
In a statement at the moment of the recent event, the municipal authorities explained that surveillance video showed a individual putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused made no plea and informed the judge she was unwell, according to media sources, with the judge recommending her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
The following day the alleged incident, the city leader said that restoration to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without damaging the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
She added the local government would seek the “substantial” restoration expenses from those accountable for the vandalism.
When the artwork was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and design.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
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