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A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, aged 19, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with one count of damaging property.

Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that surveillance video captured a person putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused made no plea and informed the judge she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to find a legal representative before her next court date in December.

The following day the reported event, the city leader stated that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

She added the council would seek the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.

When the sculpture was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.

Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an ancient anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.