🔗 Share this article

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

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated via phone at the local court in South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of damaging property.

Officials commented at the moment of the recent event, the municipal authorities said that surveillance video captured a person putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused did not enter a plea and told the judge she was ill, as reported by media sources, with the judge recommending her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in December.

The following day the alleged incident, the city leader said 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 valued community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

She added the local government would pursue the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the damage.

When the sculpture was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and design.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the artwork represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.