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A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of damaging property.

Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the local council explained that CCTV footage captured a individual placing fake eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

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

The following day the alleged incident, the city leader stated that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be detached without damaging the sculpture.

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

The mayor added the council would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.

When the sculpture was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the local community due to its price tag and design.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.