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A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a large art piece of a mythical creature 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 a single charge of damaging property.

Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the local council explained that CCTV footage captured a individual putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the judge she was ill, according to media sources, with the magistrate advising her to find a lawyer before her next court date in December.

A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor said that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be removed without harming the sculpture.

“This wilful damage to a valued community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”

The mayor added the council would seek the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.

At the time the artwork was first proposed, it drew varied responses from the local community due to its cost and appearance.

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