🔗 Share this article

A young person from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared via phone at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of damaging property.

In a statement at the moment of the recent event, the local council explained that surveillance video captured a person putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused made no plea and informed the judge she was unwell, according to media sources, with the magistrate advising her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in December.

The following day the reported event, the city leader stated that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be detached without harming the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

She added the council would seek the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the damage.

When the artwork was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and appearance.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.