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A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a sizable art piece of a mythical creature by affixing plastic eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with a single charge of damaging property.

Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the local council explained that surveillance video captured a individual putting fake eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused did not enter a plea and told the judge she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to find a lawyer before her next court date in December.

A day after the reported event, the local mayor said that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the adhesive eyes could not be detached without harming the sculpture.

“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

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

When the artwork was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the local community due to its price tag and design.

Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.