🔗 Share this article

A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a sizable art piece of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of property damage.

In a statement at the time of the recent event, the local council said that CCTV footage captured a person placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused made no plea and informed the judge she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.

A day after the alleged incident, the city leader stated that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the sculpture.

“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

The mayor said the council would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.

When the artwork was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.