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A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, aged 19, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, charged with one count of damaging property.

Officials commented at the moment of the recent event, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage showed a person putting fake eyes on the artwork, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused made no plea and told the judge she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the judge recommending her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.

A day after the reported event, the local mayor said that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without damaging the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

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

At the time the artwork was first proposed, it drew varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and design.

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