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

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with one count of damaging property.

Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the local council said that surveillance video captured a person placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and informed the judge she was unwell, according to media sources, with the judge advising her to find a lawyer before her next court date in December.

The following day the alleged incident, the city leader stated that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes could not be detached without damaging the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

The mayor added the local government would pursue the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the vandalism.

At the time the artwork was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and design.

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