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A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, charged with a single charge of property damage.

In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council said that surveillance video showed a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the judge she was unwell, according to media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.

A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor said that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

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

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

Costing A$136,000 ($89,000; £68,000), the artwork depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.