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

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

In a statement at the time of the recent event, the municipal authorities said that surveillance video captured a person placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the court she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to find a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.

A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor said that restoration to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be removed without harming the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those people of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

The mayor 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 appearance.

Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.