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A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly vandalizing a sizable 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 the state of South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of damaging property.

Officials commented at the moment of the recent event, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage captured a individual placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused did not enter a plea and informed the court she was ill, according to media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.

A day after the reported event, the city leader said that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the adhesive eyes could not be removed without damaging the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

The mayor said the council would pursue the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the damage.

At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it drew varied responses from the local community due to its cost and design.

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (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 found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.