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A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with one count of damaging property.

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

The accused did not enter a plea and informed the judge she was unwell, according to media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.

A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor said that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the sculpture.

“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in 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.”

The mayor said the local government would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.

When the sculpture was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and design.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the artwork represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.