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A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a large art piece of a mythical creature by applying googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, charged with one count of property damage.

Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that surveillance video captured a person placing fake eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused made no plea and informed the judge she was ill, according to media sources, with the judge recommending her to find a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.

A day after the reported event, the local mayor said that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers could not be detached without damaging the sculpture.

“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

She said the council would seek the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.

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

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.