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A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying googly eyes to it.

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

Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the local council said that surveillance video captured a person putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the court she was ill, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.

A day after the alleged incident, the city leader said that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without damaging the art piece.

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

The mayor said the council would pursue the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.

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

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.