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A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly vandalizing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of property damage.

In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a person putting fake eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused did not enter a plea and told the court she was ill, according to media sources, with the judge advising her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.

The following day the alleged incident, 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 harming the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”

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

When the artwork was first proposed, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its price tag and appearance.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.