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A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of property damage.

In a statement at the time of the recent event, the local council said that surveillance video showed a individual placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the judge she was ill, according to news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in December.

A day after the reported event, the city leader said that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the adhesive eyes could not be removed without damaging the sculpture.

“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 costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

The mayor added the local government would seek the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the damage.

At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it drew varied responses from the local community due to its price tag and appearance.

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.