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A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a large art piece of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, aged 19, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, charged with one count of property damage.

Officials commented at the time of the recent event, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused made no plea and told the judge she was ill, according to news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in December.

The following day the reported event, the local mayor said that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be detached without harming the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

She said the council would pursue the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.

When the sculpture was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and design.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.