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A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, aged 19, participated via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, charged with one count of damaging property.

In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that surveillance video showed a individual putting fake eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused did not enter a plea and informed the judge she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the judge advising her to secure a lawyer before her next court date in December.

A day after the reported event, the local mayor stated that repairs to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the stickers could not be removed without damaging the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

She said the local government would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.

At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and design.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.