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A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a large art piece of a mythical creature by applying googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of property damage.

In a statement at the time of the September incident, the local council said that surveillance video showed a individual placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused did not enter a plea and informed the court she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to find a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.

The following day the reported event, the city leader said that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be removed without harming the sculpture.

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

She added the council would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those accountable for the damage.

When the sculpture was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions 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 mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.