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A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, aged 19, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, charged with one count of property damage.

In a statement at the moment of the recent event, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage showed a person putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and informed the court she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to find a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.

The following day the alleged incident, the city leader stated that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

The mayor said the council would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage.

When the sculpture was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the local community due to its cost and appearance.

Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.