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A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a sizable art piece of a mythical creature by applying googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates 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 said that CCTV footage showed a individual putting fake eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused did not enter a plea and informed the judge she was unwell, according to media sources, with the judge recommending her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in December.

A day after the reported event, the local mayor stated that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be costly as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without damaging the sculpture.

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

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

At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it drew varied responses from the local community due to its cost and appearance.

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.