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A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, charged with a single charge of damaging property.

Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage showed a person putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the judge she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.

A day after the reported event, the local mayor said that repairs to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without damaging the art piece.

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

She added the council would seek the “substantial” 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.

Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.