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A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after reportedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, aged 19, appeared via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of property damage.

In a statement at the time of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage showed a individual putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and informed the judge she was ill, as reported by media sources, with the judge advising her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.

A day after the reported event, the local mayor stated that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without harming the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a cherished community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

She added the local government would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.

At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it drew varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and design.

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