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A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a large art piece of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with a single charge of damaging property.

In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage captured a person putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused did not enter a plea and told the court she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.

A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor said that restoration to the popular public artwork would be costly as the stickers could not be detached without damaging the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued 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 members of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

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

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

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.