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A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a sizable art piece of a mythical creature by applying googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, aged 19, participated via phone at the local court in the state of 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 person putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the court she was ill, according to news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.

A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes could not be removed without harming the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued public artwork 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 people of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

She said the council would pursue the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the damage.

At the time the sculpture was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.