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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.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated via phone at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of property damage.

Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the local council explained that surveillance video captured a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.

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

The following day the reported event, the city leader said that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without damaging the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”

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

At the time the artwork was first proposed, it received varied responses from the local community due to its price tag and appearance.

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