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A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of property damage.

In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council said that surveillance video captured a individual placing fake eyes on the artwork, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused made no plea and told the court she was ill, as reported by media sources, with the judge advising her to find a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in December.

The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

She said the local government would seek the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the damage.

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

Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.