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

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, charged with a single charge of property damage.

Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the local council explained that surveillance video captured a person placing fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the court she was unwell, according to media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her next court date in December.

A day after the reported event, the local mayor said that restoration to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes could not be detached without damaging the art piece.

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

She added the council would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.

At the time the sculpture was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its price tag and appearance.

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient anteater-like marsupial found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.