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

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated remotely at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, charged with a single charge of damaging property.

In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage captured a individual putting fake 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 magistrate recommending her to find a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in December.

The following day the alleged incident, the city leader said that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the adhesive eyes could not be detached without harming the sculpture.

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

The mayor said the local government would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.

When the sculpture was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and design.

Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture depicts a legendary giant animal, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.