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A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, aged 19, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with one count of damaging property.

Officials commented at the time of the recent event, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage showed a individual putting fake eyes on the artwork, which locals have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the judge she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.

A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be detached without damaging the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

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

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

Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.