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A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a sizable art piece of a mythical creature by affixing plastic eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, facing with one count of property damage.

Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the local council said that CCTV footage captured a person placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the judge she was ill, according to media sources, with the judge advising her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.

The following day the reported event, the local mayor said that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”

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

At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its cost and design.

Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.