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A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly vandalizing a large art piece of a legendary being by applying googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, aged 19, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of property damage.

Officials commented at the time of the recent event, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage captured a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and informed the court she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.

A day after the reported event, the city leader said that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without damaging the sculpture.

“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

She added the council would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.

At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its cost and design.

Costing A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.