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A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a mythical creature by applying plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of property damage.

In a statement at the time of the recent event, the local council explained that surveillance video showed a individual placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the court she was ill, according to media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her next court date in the final month of the year.

The following day the alleged incident, the city leader stated that repairs to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without harming the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

The mayor added the local government would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the damage.

At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and design.

Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.