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A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with one count of damaging property.

Officials commented at the time of the recent event, the local council said that surveillance video captured a person placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.

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

The following day the alleged incident, the city leader said that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers could not be detached without damaging the sculpture.

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

She said the local government would seek the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.

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

Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a legendary giant animal, with the creators influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.