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A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of property damage.

Officials commented at the time of the recent event, the local council said that CCTV footage captured a individual placing fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the judge she was ill, as reported by media sources, with the judge advising her to secure a lawyer 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 stickers could not be removed without harming the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our society 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 received mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and design.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a legendary giant animal, with the creators influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.