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A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of damaging property.

Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that surveillance video showed a individual putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused made no plea and informed the court she was unwell, according to media sources, with the judge recommending her to find a lawyer 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 much-loved public artwork would be costly as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without harming the sculpture.

“This wilful damage to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

She added the council would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.

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

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.