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A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.

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

Officials commented at the time of the recent event, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a person putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused made no plea and told the court she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her next court date in the final month of the year.

The following day the reported event, the local mayor said that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”

The mayor added the local government would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible 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 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.