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A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, charged with a single charge of property damage.

In a statement at the time of the recent event, the local council said that CCTV footage showed a person placing fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the judge she was ill, according to media sources, with the judge advising her to find a lawyer before her next court date in the final month of the year.

The following day the alleged incident, the city leader stated that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be detached without harming the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a valued community art 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 society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

She said the council would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the damage.

When the artwork was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and appearance.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.