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

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared remotely at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with a single charge of property damage.

In a statement at the time of the recent event, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a person placing fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused did not enter a plea and told the court she was unwell, according to media sources, with the judge advising her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.

A day after the reported event, the local mayor said that restoration to the popular public artwork would be costly as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without harming the sculpture.

“This wilful damage to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”

She added the local government would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the damage.

At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its cost and design.

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