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A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared remotely at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of property damage.

In a statement at the time of the recent event, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage showed a individual putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused did not enter a plea and told the court she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the judge advising her to find a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.

A day after the alleged incident, the city leader stated that restoration to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those members of our community who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

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

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 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.