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A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, charged with one count of damaging property.

In a statement at the time of the recent event, the local council said that CCTV footage showed a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the court she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to find a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.

A day after the alleged incident, the city leader stated that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the stickers could not be removed without damaging the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art 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 people of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”

The mayor added the local government would seek the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.

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

Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.