🔗 Share this article

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

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, charged with one count of damaging property.

Officials commented at the moment of the recent event, the local council said that CCTV footage showed a person putting fake eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

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

The following day the reported event, the local mayor stated that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without damaging the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked 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 added the local government would seek the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.

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

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