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A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by applying googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of property damage.

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

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the court she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to find a legal representative before her next court date 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 damaging the art piece.

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

She added the council would pursue the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage.

When the sculpture was first proposed, it received varied responses from the local community due to its cost and appearance.

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.