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

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of damaging property.

In a statement at the time of the recent event, the local council explained that CCTV footage captured a person placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused did not enter a plea and told the court she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.

The following day the reported event, the local mayor stated that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be detached without damaging the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

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

When the artwork was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and design.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.