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A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of property damage.

In a statement at the moment of the recent event, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage showed a individual putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused did not enter a plea and told the court she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the judge recommending her to secure a lawyer before her next court date in December.

The following day the reported event, the city leader stated that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the sculpture.

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

The mayor added the council would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those accountable for the damage.

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

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.