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A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of damaging property.

In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council explained that surveillance video captured a individual putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the court she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the judge advising her to find a lawyer before her next court date in the final month of the year.

A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor said that repairs to the much-loved public artwork would be costly as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without damaging the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

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

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

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.