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A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after allegedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.

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

Officials commented at the time of the recent event, the local council explained that surveillance video showed a individual putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

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 find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.

The following day the reported event, the local mayor stated that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes could not be detached without damaging the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a cherished community art is inappropriate 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 society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

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

When the sculpture was initially suggested, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and design.

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.