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A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a large art piece of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with one count of property damage.

In a statement at the time of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage showed a individual placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and informed the court she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the judge advising her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.

The following day the alleged incident, the city leader said that restoration to the popular public artwork would be costly as the adhesive eyes could not be detached without harming the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

She said the local government would pursue the “substantial” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage.

At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and design.

Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.