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A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared remotely at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of property damage.

In a statement at the time of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage captured a person placing fake eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and informed the court she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the judge advising her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.

The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor said that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes could not be removed without damaging the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

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

At the time the sculpture was initially suggested, it received mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and appearance.

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