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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 applying plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated remotely at the local court in South Australia on that day, charged with one count of damaging property.

In a statement at the time of the recent event, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage showed a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the judge she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the judge recommending her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.

The following day the reported event, the city leader said that repairs to the popular public artwork would be costly as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without damaging 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 innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

The mayor added the local government would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.

When the artwork was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and design.

Costing A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.